


when in Rome

by wearealltalesintheend



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Romantic Comedy, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Humor, M/M, POV Winn Schott Jr., Pining, Post-Season/Series 04, Romantic Comedy, Winn-centric, alex and kara are both terrible and great at matchmaking, and all that agent of liberty mess is over, because i need things not to hurt, winn is back from the future
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-26
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-09-27 15:29:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17164541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wearealltalesintheend/pseuds/wearealltalesintheend
Summary: "Sometimes, sometimes, Winn thinks Kara is secretly evil. Like, there’s gotta be a tiny, dark voice in her head that sometimes takes over and makes her do things like this.Things that are going to get Winn killed. Or worse, in jail. For life."*or, the one where Brainy and Winn decide fake dating is a good idea that is in no way going to backfire spectacularly, Alex is doing her best to clean up after Colonel Haley, and Kara is making being a better friend her New Year resolution..Based on the prompt:" our friends set us up on a blind date as a prank because we don’t like each other but neither of us wants to let them win so"





	1. for the next ten minutes

**Author's Note:**

> Right, I should start this by saying I have a lot of free time and not enough things to do, and fake dating is probably one of the most fun tropes to write.
> 
> That being said, remember when Winn was one of Kara's best friends in the world? Good thing the show writers did not forget that for the sake of drama!
> 
> Anyway, I hope y'all like this.

Sometimes,  _ sometimes,  _ Winn thinks Kara is secretly evil. Like, there’s gotta be a tiny, dark voice in her head that sometimes takes over and makes her do things like this.

 

Things that are going to get Winn killed. Or worse, in jail.  _ For life. _

 

Okay, no, but honestly, this time he should’ve seen it coming, and to be fair, he did notice that weird little glint in her eyes that she only ever gets when she’s plotting. Once upon a time, that meant maybe pranking her sister or having two-days movie marathons. But, oh no, not this time.

 

This time it meant sending Winn to a fancy-pants restaurant on a  _ blind date.  _

 

See, this is one of those things that are definitely going to end up with murder. It might be his, it might not– the jury’s still out for that one.

 

Because Kara had absolutely refused to give him any information on who he would be meeting.  _ It’s a blind date, Winn,  _ she had said.  _ You’re not supposed to know,  _ she had said. And she had  _ giggled.  _

 

And because Winn is clearly a pushover and, truth be told, his apartment just doesn’t quite feel like home, not since he came back to this century– it’s too big, too empty, too quiet– and the idea of going to sleep with a warm body beside him did have some appeal, Winn said  _ yes. _

 

Thus, bringing him here, to this moment, the very first chapter of his future memoir that he’ll write from prison while serving his life penalty for manslaughter. Alienslaughter. “No, no,  _ no.  _ Absolutely  _ not,”  _ Winn says, still standing by his supposed table and with his supposed date sitting looking just as shell-shocked. “You’ve  _ got  _ to be kidding me.  _ No.  _ I’m going to  _ kill  _ Kara.”

 

“I don’t understand,” says Brainy, because Brainy is his blind date. Because Kara is an evil, evil person. “I was told to come here for a date. What are  _ you  _ doing here?”

 

“Is something the matter?” says the waiter.

 

“Just one second,” says Winn to the waiter, before whirling back on his, and Winn has to give Kara this– it  _ was  _ a surprise, alright– date. “ _ I’m your date, dumbass.  _ Kara told me the same thing. We were set up!”

 

“Alex might think I should find a companion in this time,” Brainy scoffs, and it’s a true feat how much arrogance he can fit into it, “but she would never think  _ you  _ would be a suitable choice.”

 

Winn had really been about to walk away, seriously, he had. He was going to be the bigger man and walk away without a scene, but, you know what?  _ “Excuse me?”  _ He did  _ not  _ wear a blazer for this bullshit, Jesus Christ. “For your information, I am a catch, okay? You wouldn’t be so  _ lucky _ to land a date with me, okay?”

 

Brainy raises his eyebrows, and when the waiter opens his mouth again, he waves him off distractedly. “One more second, please,” he looks Winn up and down with a judgy face, and Winn resists the urge to cover himself. He’s not a piece of meat, okay?  _ Jesus.  _ “I suppose I would not know the standards of this century enough to cast judgment.”

 

“Oh my god,” Winn throws his hands up in frustration, “can you chill on the condescension for like five minutes?”

 

“I was merely stating a fact–”

 

_ “Bullshit!” _

 

“Is it necessary to be so crass–”

 

“Don’t bullshit me then, and you won’t have to hear me call  _ bullshit.” _

 

“Gentlemen!” The waiter screeches, and both Winn and Brainy and probably half of the restaurant turn to look. The guy clears his throat, valiantly ignoring the attention, “I’ll have to ask that you  _ keep it down,  _ or I will be forced to ask you to leave.”

 

It’s a cross in the road. Winn  _ could _ still walk away, call a cab, go to Kara’s apartment, and demand to know what terrible thing he did to deserve such punishment. He looks at Brainy, finds him already looking back, seemingly in the same line of thought.

 

On the other hand, this  _ is  _ a nice place. And so hard to get reservations. It would be a shame to waste it– actually,  _ that  _ would be letting Kara and Alex win. And  _ oh no,  _ that won’t do. They think they can mess with them and that’s it?

 

Winn sits down.

 

“What are you doing?” Brainy asks, and man, the confusion on his voice is sweet, sweet revenge.

 

“I,” he drawls, picking up the menu, “am ordering my dinner.”

 

“Why?” 

 

“Dude, this is a nice restaurant. I’ve been trying to get a reservation here for ages, I don’t know what kind of magic Kara and Alex did to get one, but I’m not wasting that just because you guys are a bunch of assholes.”

 

Brainy looks baffled. Then offended, “why am I included on that? Must I remind you, I was tricked, just like you.”

 

“Yeah, but it’s the principle of the thing, you know?” Winn shrugs, turning back to their waiter. “Sorry about that, I would like this one here, see? And the wine, too, yes. Thank you.”

 

The waiter– Matthew, according to his nametag– sighs. “Very well,” then, turning to Brainy, “will you be ordering as well, sir?”

 

Winn raises his eyebrows and grins in challenge. A matching sigh from Brainy. “Yes, I suppose I will.” He rattles off his order in perfect French,  _ of course,  _ and waits until their waiter has left for the kitchen to narrow his eyes at Winn, “this is not going to end well.”

 

It’s Winn’s turn to scoff. “Please, have a little faith, will you? As long as we don’t kill each other, it’ll be fine. I’m not turning away free food because of  _ you.” _

 

“Free food?”

 

“Yeah, you think I’m paying after this little stunt they pulled? Oh, no, sir. They are going to reimburse me even if it’s the last thing I do.” A new waiter brings them the wine, politely ignoring their weird ass conversation. She fills Brainy’s glass first, then Winn’s, and yeah, this is not going to work. This is definitely not a two-glasses of wine night. “Hey, you know what, why don’t you just leave the bottle here? Yeah, just, leave the bottle. We’ll take care of it ourselves, don’t worry. Thanks.”

 

She leaves the bottle. 

 

Winn knocks back a glass, pours himself another.

 

Brainy sighs.

 

*

 

_ “Yes!  _ That’s what I’m saying, man,” Winn leans back on his chair, hands gesturing wildly, “they can’t just mess with us like this with no consequences!”

 

“Or they will not stop the messing,” Brainy agrees, nodding fervently, “the messing will go on,” he pauses, leaning in, and Winn is at the edge of his seat for this,  _ “forever.” _

 

He can’t help snorting on his glass. They are on their second bottle of wine, waiting for dessert, and Winn can’t believe he’s saying this, but the night wasn’t so terrible. He even wanted to gut himself with a blunt knife only  _ twice.  _ That’s got to be a new record somewhere. “Man, I have to say,” laughter bubbles up again, “you are a lot less dickish when you’re drunk.”

 

“I have to agree. You are a lot more tolerable as well,” he says, still nodding, “I wonder if this was their plan all along?”

 

“No, no. Kara definitely expected me to storm dramatically out of the building, cursing your name at the wind,” Winn can even imagine it, picture it on his head. “Alex too, probably. Maybe some water throwing, endless arguing, that sort of thing.”

 

“They will be very surprised, then, when we tell them tomorrow that no water was thrown.” He amends, “there was  _ some  _ arguing, though.”

 

“Dude!” Winn knows he must be looking like a crazy person right now, but whatever, that doesn’t matter, because he just had the best idea _ever._ “I know what we need to do. They think they can just go around and mess with us, right? Well, we can’t let that slide– that would set a precedent. You said it yourself, it would go on _forever._ Oh no, we need to fight back. So, you know what that means, right?”

 

“Yes…” Brainy draws out the word, clearly in deep thought. “We throw eggs at their houses!”

 

“No–  _ what?  _ No! Where did you even–  _ what?” _

 

“Kara has told me I should watch more movies. I believe we are currently watching all of the  _ 90s  _ genre.”

 

“No, that’s crap. Don’t take life lessons from movies, man.  _ Especially  _ 90s movies,” Winn shakes his head, trying to clear out his thoughts from Breakfast Club references. “Anyway.  _ We  _ should mess with  _ them.” _

 

“Oh,” Brainy looks as if Winn had just told him the secrets of Life, the Universe, and Everything Ese. No, wait, that’s 42. But still, it’s the same sentiment. “And how do you propose we do that?”

 

“I’m glad you asked that my friend, sort of,” he grins, “we pretend this little blind date thing  _ worked.  _ We tell them we’re dating. I know, genius, isn’t it?”

 

Brainy stares at him, cheeks still flushed from the wine but eyes surprisingly clear despite the alcohol. It would be cute if it weren’t Brainy. “You are drunker than I thought.”

 

Winn scoffs. “No, I’m  _ tipsy.  _ But that’s beside the point,” he leans in, drinking the last of his wine, “just think of their faces tomorrow morning. They think we are killing each other right now as we speak. Imagine their surprise if we waltz in tomorrow  _ dating.” _

 

“They would be very surprised,” Brainy concedes, “and it  _ would _ be funny. I could hack in the security system later, print out a few copies of their bewildered faces.”

 

“See, now you’re getting it!” Winn crows, still grinning so wide his cheeks are beginning to ache, “what do you say? Boyfriends?”

 

“I believe,” Brainy smiles, a true mischievous smile that Winn’s never seen on his face before, “you’ve got yourself a deal,  _ boyfriend.” _

 

Winn laughs, raising his glass for a toast, and Brainy clinks his own glass against Winn’s– the official start of a plan that could only go uphill from here. 


	2. got a feelin' bout the headline

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Winn has a plan, Brainy is a quick study, and news are broken.

When Brainy emerges upstairs from the dorms, Winn is waiting for him. He’s leaning against the wall, pretending to look something on his phone because this is cool, he’s cool. It’s cool that he’s here, deeper in the maze of halls that makes up the DEO than he’s ever really been, and it’s not as if he got lost twice before finding the right door.

 

It’s totally cool.

 

So when Brainy stops in front of him, frowning, Winn looks up, says with his coolest voice,  _ “we need to talk.” _

 

“What are you doing here?” Brainy frowns deeper, “I am not entirely sure you are allowed to be here.”

 

“What?  _ Dude,”  _ Winn can’t believe this. He’s totally ruining it, oh my god, people are going to start roaming the halls any minute now, they don’t have time for this. “ _ I work here!  _ I’ve worked here the whole time we’ve known each other!”

 

Brainy rolls his eyes, “I’m aware of that, yes,” he gestures the badge pinned crookedly in Winn’s sweater, “but it says  _ visitor  _ there, so I’m assuming Alex hasn’t reinstated you yet.”

 

Winn takes a deep breath, reminds himself this is not Brainy’s fault. It’s been almost a month since he’s been back, but it’s fine. Alex has a lot of cleaning up to do after that scary lady left, she’s been busy. It’s paid leave, it’s good to have all these free time, Alex is right, he deserves to get some rest.  _ It’s fine.  _ “Yeah, it does say that, alright, but it doesn’t change the fact that _ I work here, _ okay. So let’s accept that as a fact and move on with the conversation, yes?”

 

“I suppose,” Brainy squints at his watch, mouth flattening in a grimace, “I’m going to be late. If you want to talk, we’re doing this on the way to the briefing room.”

 

And then he starts walking, oh-so-sure that Winn would follow, and  _ fine,  _ Winn does follow, but that’s only because they  _ need  _ to talk before they run into Alex or Kara. “Look, all I gotta know is if we’re doing this or not, man.”

 

“By  _ this _ , you mean our fake relationship?”

 

“Yes, what else would I be– nevermind. Yeah, are we really doing this? Because we have to talk backstory and we need to do it fast, Kara is going to flip her shit when she hears about this, alright? She’ll be grilling us on this for  _ days,  _ she’s a reporter and she’s known me for years, she’ll smell bullshit from a mile away if we’re not careful.”

 

“You do have a point,” Brainy slows down his pace, considering their options, “our best chance would be stick to the truth as much as we can. I don’t see why we need to overcomplicate it, if anything, that would make Alex suspicious.”

 

“Yeah, I can’t lie to Alex, so that’s off the table. But I like your idea, stick to the truth, make it simple– yes, I can work with this.” Winn grins, feeling giddy with excitement. He can’t wait to see their faces, to watch the exact moment where they realize their plan backfired big time. It will be the sweetest revenge. “So, first date last night, we say it went surprisingly well. I don’t know, let’s say we hit it off, drank some wine, split the dessert– all that couple stuff.”

 

“Sounds believable,” he nods in agreement, and something about his voice makes it feel final, like signing a contract; Winn shivers. It’s very cold in here, these two things are definitely unrelated. “And mostly truth, so there’s little room for contradictions. Very good.”

 

An agent passes them by in the hall, waving a confused hello to Winn, eyebrows raising at the sight of them walking around together. Winn salutes her with a genuine smile– this is great, it will make it more believable when the rumors start. “Anyway. Where was I? Right, the date’s over, we could have shared a cab home, that’d be cool. My apartment’s closer, I think, so you walk me to my door, we kiss goodnight– but that’s  _ it.  _ I don’t put out on the first date, okay, so jot that down. That’s a third date  _ at least.” _

 

There’s a tired sigh from Brainy. “I’m assuming you mean sex?”

 

“Yes, we tell them we’re taking it slow, is what I’m saying. Which is especially genius because it excuses the lack of touchy-feely PDA.” Winn waits for a reaction, waits for the inevitable rebuttal of his plan that’s bound to happen, but it never comes. Instead, Brainy is looking at him,  _ waiting  _ for him to continue and that’s. That is new, for starters. It’s strange, it leaves him wrongfooted, unsure on how to proceed, and he ends up trailing off, “what? Is it that bad?”

 

Brainy shakes his head, pausing before they reach the door. Once they cross it, that will be it. Alex and Kara, no,  _ Supergirl  _ will be waiting with a hundred questions, and if they miss just one answer, the truth will come toppling down and ruin all the fun. “Not at all,” says Brainy, and his eyebrows knit in confusion. “I’m simply deferring to your expertise on this. If anyone would know how a relationship works in this century, it would be you.” 

 

“Oh, okay. No, yeah, that makes sense,” he shrugs and the world looks a little less off kilter. “So we’re good?”

 

A grin, nearly matching Winn’s in excitement, breaks on his face for the second time in two days, and Winn wonders if that’s some sort of record. “I believe so. Shall we?”

 

“After you,  _ dear,”  _ Winn holds the door open with a flourish, letting Brainy go in first. Very gentlemanly of him and, most importantly, lets the sharks get to Brainy first.

 

From here, he can see the computers and the monitors, all the agents getting to their stations, sunlight spilling from the open balcony, and Alex standing in the middle of it all. Her hair is shorter than he remembers, it suits her, he thinks, even if it takes him a double take to recognize her in a crowd now. And it’s only for a little while, just until he gets used to it, to all the small changes. It’s fine. 

 

Anyway. It takes Alex one take to zero in on them. “Hey, guys,” her grin is one second away from turning into a smirk, probably just waiting for them to blow up. “How was the date last night?”

 

And man, this is the moment he’s been waiting for. Laughter is bubbling up on his chest but Winn keeps it down, for the most part– he can’t help grinning, delighted, he’s having the time of his life here, alright? “Why, Alex,” he says, with his most casual voice that he absolutely knows will send alarm bells ringing on her head, “it went great, actually.”

 

Her smirk slips, turning into a perplexed frown. “What?”

 

“Yes,” Brainy agrees, stepping closer to Winn until their shoulders are brushing. Yeah, he’s getting the hang of this quicker than expected. “It went surprisingly well,” he sounds half-surprised himself, but that’s good, believable, then adds, “even if he  _ was  _ late.”

 

“What? I wasn’t late!”  _ Seriously? _ “Just because you got there fifteen minutes early that doesn’t mean  _ I  _ was late, okay?”

 

“No, it doesn’t,” he concedes, but turning back to Alex, “he was ten minutes late.”

 

“There was  _ traffic!”  _ Winn scowls, crossing his arms over his chest defensively. “But  _ fine,  _ I’ll get there half an hour early the next time and we’ll see who’s late.”

 

“Hold on, hold on a second,” Alex cuts them off, eyebrows rising higher and higher, “next time? As in, a  _ second date?” _

 

The excitement rushes back with full force, “yup,” he says, popping the  _ p,  _ and throws an arm around Brainy’s shoulders, “and hopefully a third, and a fourth, and a fifth, and so on.”

 

Brainy stiffens for a second, but the tension melts quickly, and he leans awkwardly against Winn, “we are dating,” he adds helpfully as if Alex needed it spelled out for her. But, to be fair, by her shocked, gaping face, she kind of did. 

 

A beep from the computer behind them snaps her out of her shock, and Alex holds a finger to tell them this isn’t over yet, even as she turns to deal with the flashing warning on the screen. “Is this okay?” Winn whispers, taking advantage of Alex’s distraction, because, you know. This is funny only as long as they’re both cool with it. But Brainy nods, shuffling to get more comfortable against his side, and Winn has to admit, it’s not half as bad as he thought it would be.

 

“Does this mean what I think it means?” 

 

The new voice is loud and full of disbelief, with just this side of sunshine and rainbows that Winn doesn’t have to turn to know it’s Kara. She’s blinking a lot, mouth opening and closing as she seems to look for something to say.  _ God,  _ Winn hopes the security cameras are getting a good angle on this. “Oh my god, you guys!” She says, rushing closer, “what happened last night?”

 

Like clockwork, Alex reappears at their side, “yes, I was wondering the same thing. How  _ did _ this happen?”

 

“What, you mean you didn’t think you little matchmaking would work?”

 

Also like clockwork, Kara caves in first. “What,  _ no!  _ Of course we did– I mean, we  _ hoped  _ it would, right, Alex?”

 

“No, no, no. I’m sorry, I’m still stuck on this. You guys are dating now?”

 

Sighing long-suffering, Winn nods, “yes, we are, despite your expectations.” He looks down at Brainy, smiles, “like I said, the date went pretty good. We’re giving this a shot.”

 

“Well,” Alex says, starting to smile again too, “I’m happy for you, then. Very surprised, but happy.”

 

“Me too, I guess. I mean, congratulations!” Kara grins, still looking like a confused puppy, even as she pulls them into a hug, “sorry, it’s just there is a lot of new information here. I didn’t even know you were gay!”

 

“Bisexual is the word you’re looking for, actually” he corrects, “and I thought everyone knew? Did nobody know this?”

 

“I had wondered,” Brainy offers, “if it makes you feel better.”

 

“And I can’t say I’m surprised,” Alex adds.

 

“What, am I the only one who didn’t know?” Kara makes a face.

 

“Well, J’onn can read minds so…”

 

Laughing along these people is a familiar thing, something he’s missed dearly this past year, and Winn takes a moment to enjoy everything about it, chasing nostalgia away with a bat. He feels Brainy laugh at his side, echoing where they’re pressed together, and thinks this went easier than he first thought.

  
  
  
  



	3. but home is just a room full of my safest sounds

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Kara nails brunch, Winn fails at adulting, and Brainy fears for his life.

“Have you ever noticed how ominous this song is?” Winn says, between muffins, “I mean,  _ you better watch out? You better not cry?  _ Like, are you threatening me? Are you  _ warning  _ me? Is Santa going to kill me in my sleep?”

 

Nanoon’s is still covered in string lights and Christmas songs are still flowing through the speakers at all times of day, Christmas spirit stubbornly clinging to the coffee shop with every red-and-green decoration, but there are worse things to see at ten in the morning, Winn supposes. Especially when the food and the coffee are for free. “I know right? I never understood that,” Kara nods enthusiastically, ponytail swishing behind her, “ _ he sees you when you sleep, he knows when you’re awake?  _ I’m pretty sure that classifies as stalking.”

 

Their waitress brings another plate of muffins and donuts, eyeing Kara’s bony wrists and her half-eaten blueberry donut with jealousy before leaving them at the table. Winn snorts, watching Kara hoard the donuts on her own plate like a blonde, cardigan-wearing dragon. “Either way. Here’s to having survived another Christmas,” he raises his coffee for a cheap, brunch toast and Kara clinks her own paper cup against it with a grin. “But seriously, is there a reason you dragged me out for brunch or– not that I’m complaining, far be it from me to refuse free food, but. Is there?”

 

Kara adjusts her glasses, shrugging half-heartedly, but it can’t be  _ that  _ bad, because her smiles stay fixed in place, if only a little sad at the edges. “What, can’t I want to do something nice for no particular reason?”

 

“This is about the blind date, isn’t it?” Winn sighs, putting his coffee down. His  _ apology  _ coffee, it seems. “We talked about this yesterday, it’s fine. It turned out better than fine, actually.”

 

“Right! Right, no, I know– I’m still sorry about that, though, sort of,” she shakes her head and her ponytail swishes again. “But that’s not why I asked you here. It’s not– it’s just that you are one of my best friends but when was the last time we talked?  _ Really _ talked, no world-threatening, reality-altering, future-changing disasters. Just you know, two friends talking about life, and movies, and work!”

 

“Kara, we pretty much work at the same place– dealing with world-threatening, reality-altering, future-changing disasters is basically our whole job.”

 

_ “I know.  _ But! It’s like game night. Game night is no longer among us. It perished sometime between the Daxamites and Reign and we didn’t even notice!” She complains, chewing on her donut with renewed passion as if maybe the void left behind by game night could be filled with exceptionally good pastries. “What’s next?  _ Karaoke  _ night? If we don’t do something about this soon, it will be  _ chaos. _ ”

 

Winn sips at his latte, stalling. Kara does have a point, a semblance of normalcy sounds awesome right about now, after Worldkillers and not-so-bright futures and a year of playing the universe’s deadliest game of chess with Brainy’s homicidal maniac relative. Honestly, at this point, they should all start a club, he, Brainy and Kara, make some t-shirts, hold weekly meetings.  _ How to deal with your psycho family member 101.  _ But he digresses. “Okay, I see your point. Things have been kind of intense, lately.” That’s the understatement of the century, he knows. “And it  _ would  _ be nice to hang out without some impending doom glooming everything up.”

 

Kara sets her cup down with a little too much force, coffee spilling on the wood table, but it doesn’t dampen her enthusiasm, she’s grinning as she tries to clean up the mess with napkins. “It would, wouldn’t it? A normal night, without any superhero business?”

 

“I have an idea,” Winn passes her more napkins, “why don’t we resurrect game night?”

 

“Yes! That would be perfect!” She squeals, eyes widening behind the glasses, “you should bring Brainy, and I’ll invite Nia and Lena, too! It’s a shame J’onn is still out of town, though.”

 

“Yeah, but he’ll be here for Karaoke night, right?”

 

“I think so, yeah. He’ll definitely be here before New Year’s Eve.” 

 

Winn is in the middle of trying to remember where he put his board games when the TV catches their attention. The news anchor is outside a suburban house– pastel colors, white picket fences, rose bushes in the garden; the whole package– talking about murder and some sort of alien serial killer on the loose, and Winn can physically see Kara itching to fly. “You should go,” he tells her, “sounds like superhero business, hopefully not so world-threatening, reality-altering, future-changing level.”

 

“I’m so sorry,” she rushes out, already digging dollar bills out of her wallet, eyes glued to the screen, “but we  _ are  _ bringing game night back. That’s non-negotiable now. And you still have to tell me  _ everything  _ about your date with Brainy– but we’ll talk later!”

 

And she’s off, doorbell ringing on her wake.

 

*

 

What no one tells you about spending an entire year in the future is that, like with any other extended trip, there’s a shitton of things to do once you get back.

 

Because being an adult sucks like that.

 

Alex made sure the DEO took care of his rent, and Winn is thankful for that, he is, he very much likes not being homeless and there’s no way he’d find another apartment like this for the same price– but anything beyond that, it’s a work in progress.

 

His internet connection isn’t nearly as good as before, won’t be for a little while, or at least until he can stabilize his bank acount– and  _ that’s  _ not gonna happen until he forces himself to go grocery shopping for real and stop buying take out every night. There’s only so much Chinese food he can eat without getting sick, anyway.

 

Google Chrome crashes for the third time this afternoon and Winn lets his laptop slide from his lap to the floor. And honestly, he hopes it breaks and bursts into flames, because if he has to watch that freaking pixelated dinosaur jump over equally pixelated cactus  _ one more time–  _

 

Maybe he should buy a cactus. It would probably be better than sit here and try his luck with cable.

 

You know what, maybe he  _ should.  _

 

Dragging himself off the couch, Winn stretches, hopping over his fallen laptop– sadly, still in one piece– and looking for his keys; there has to be at least one flower shop still open in the whole city. It doesn’t even have to be nearby, he’s willing to go for a walk.

 

_ Keys, keys, keys– got it! _

 

He grins, throwing his front door open and– “what are you doing here?”

 

Brainy is standing in his doorway, one hand poised to knock and the other holding a manilla envelope. “Oh.” He takes in Winn’s clothes, key halfway into the lock, “is this a bad time?”

 

“No. I mean, I was about to head out, but,” the cactus will have to wait, it seems, “by all means, come in, I guess. Wait, how did you know where I live?”

 

“The DEO keeps a personal file on every current and former employee,” he says, breezing past Winn and inside the apartment, envelope thrust unceremoniously into Winn’s hands. “It was easy enough. But do not worry, I only scanned the contact information.”

 

“Because that’s not creepy at all,” Winn comments without any real heat, too busy opening the envelope and too curious to be annoyed. He shakes it upside down and two photos fall down, screenshots from security cameras showing–  _ no way.  _ “Dude, we should have these framed!” The first one has Alex’s shocked face while the second has Kara’s, both taken in just the right second. “And then, when we do the big reveal in– what, a few weeks? Anyway– we should give it to them, like, with little bows on top–  _ oh, oh,  _ I know! There should be a cake too, with  _ Congrats, you’ve been played!  _ written on top!” 

 

“That is… an idea, certainly,” Brainy pauses in the middle of his living room, back straight and stiff, looking almost nervous. “But not the reason I’m here.”

 

“Well, then what is it?” Winn asks, scooping up his laptop from the floor, and now that there’s another person here, in his apartment, he’s beginning to notice how messy it actually is. The jacket thrown over the couch now feels glaringly obvious and the takeout containers from lunch still sitting on his kitchen table couldn’t be more noticeable with neon signs hanging over them. And if only the person standing on his living room weren’t so judgy, or even just had given him a heads up before showing up on his doorstep. But god forbid, that would be asking too much. “What is the reason? Come on, man, did something happen? Are they onto us?”

 

Something complicated scrunches up Brainy’s face, not quite a grimace but just as disgruntled. He opens his mouth, stops himself, then closes it, before trying again, “no, I don’t believe so. But something  _ did  _ happen. After Alex convinced Supergirl to pick you up for brunch, whatever that means.”

 

“Wait,  _ Alex  _ convinced Kara? But she– no, okay,  _ why  _ did Alex convince Kara? What happened after she left?” 

 

“It did not take much convincing, I assure you. Supergirl had already been talking about some board game she found in her closet this morning? Somehow that led to brunch, I didn’t entirely follow on their logic.” He frowns, sounding more irritated with himself than anything. To be fair, one year ago, Winn would be rolling his eyes, but  _ damn  _ if it’s not confusing to be in a completely different time. Sometimes Garth and Lyle would say stuff and it went way over Winn’s head; it’s like the entire world’s sharing some inside joke, but you can’t even tell the set up from the punchline. “As I was saying, after she left, Alex requested,  _ ordered,  _ really, that we talked somewhere private.”

 

“Oh, so she wanted to get you alone, without me or Kara? That– that doesn’t sound like Alex. What did she tell you?”

 

“I thought the same,” Brainy exclaims, and wow. There’s a first for everything, Winn figures. “It’s completely off her normal behavior! Once we were alone, she  _ threatened  _ me.”

 

“Alex did  _ what  _ now?”

 

“Yes, strange, isn’t it? She warned me about the consequences of breaking your heart, but that makes no sense; if we are supposedly dating, why would I do that?”

 

Worry and apprehension had been steadily growing, coiling tight around his lungs, wondering if this is the next crisis–  _ mind control, invasion of the body snatchers, who knows! _ – but now it deflates like a balloon, and he exhales a lungful of relief. “So  _ that’s it _ ? That’s what she wanted to talk to you about? Oh, man, you got me really worried there for a sec.”

 

Like most things that come out of Winn’s mouth, this seems to irk Brainy in the wrong way. “And it is cause for concern, Winslow, if the Director is under the influence of some sort of mind–”

 

“Okay, I’ll stop you right there,” Winn says, trying to placate him. He shoves his jacket off the couch and pushes pillows aside, clearing space for them to sit down. “It’s nothing to worry about. That was just Alex’s version of a shovel talk, it’s fine. I mean, it was probably very scary, because it’s  _ Alex,  _ but it’s fine.”

 

Brainy sits, one eyebrow raising as he appears to debate with himself if he should believe Winn or not. “Shovel talk?”

 

“Yeah, it’s a thing people do when a sibling or close friend starts dating, they give the boyfriend or girlfriend the good ol’  _ you hurt them, I’ll kick your ass  _ speech.” And yeah, it’s his bad, Winn can recite a  _ mea culpa  _ here; he should’ve warned Brainy about things that could possibly happen, but, frankly, Winn had not considered this as a likely scenario. “It’s sweet, actually.”

 

The utterly flat look Brainy levels him is just too funny, and along with having him  _ here,  _ sitting on Winn’s couch because Alex scared him with her shovel talk, it sends Winn into a fit of laughter. He can’t help it. There’s something so absurd about the whole situation, it sends him laughing all over again everytime he hiccups back in control. Even Brainy, when Winn manages to gather himself, has an indulgent smile on his face. “A very strange custom,” he notes, “but understandable with its due context.”

 

“Yeah, don’t sweat it, man.” Winn waves him off, leaning back on the cushions. If he had gone grocery shopping, this would be a nice time for a beer. “But it’s good that you’re here, because while you were being shoveled, I was getting free muffins and free coffees. Now that I think about it, I’m not sure Kara understands the concept of brunch either. But nevermind that, the point is,” he grins, “we are invited for game night.”

 

A wary sigh from Brainy and the squinting look on his eyes tell Winn he would probably have agreed on the beer thing. “I’m assuming that has something to do with Kara’s recently found board game and  _ brunch.” _

 

Winn snickers, “you would assume correctly. Look, I’m kinda hungry, are you staying or what? ‘Cause I’m thinking of ordering some pizza, so. Speak now or be hungry forever.”

 

It snaps Brainy sharply into motion. He stands up, smoothing out his clothes, “no, I should probably go.”

 

“Suit yourself,” Winn shrugs, standing up as well, and his phone buzzes on the table. “Oh, no. This is not good.”

 

“Something wrong?” Brainy asks, peering over his shoulder to look at the screen, “is that Alex?”

 

“Yes, she wants to meet for lunch tomorrow,” he swallows audibly, they both know what this means, “oh god, now it’s my turn to get the shovel talk.”

 

And Brainy, the goddamn  _ asshole, _ he  _ smiles.  _ “As you said it yourself, there is nothing to worry about. It’s sweet, in fact.”

 

Winn savors every last bit of pleasure of slamming the door closed on his stupid smug face. 

  
  



	4. so no one told you life was gonna be this way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> in which Winn should never be asked to cover for anyone, Brainy is great at coming up with things on the spot, Kara and Alex deal with the perils of hosting lunch, and Lena still somehow hasn't figured things out.

Friday turns into Saturday turns into Sunday with the sluggishness of late mornings and long afternoons and even longer nights. Winn keeps to his routine, and it’s weirdly reminiscent of his days at CatCo, uneventful and ultimately ordinary. He watches Supergirl catching bank robbers on TV and he calls Kara after a particularly nasty alien knocks her halfway into a building. Sometimes Guardian shows up on the feed, but the scales seem to be tipping towards James Olsen, CEO and not masked vigilante more and more. Every once in a while, he even gets a glimpse of Alex and some other agents.

 

It’s tragically boring.

 

Winn has no idea how he did this before. Ignorance really is bliss, he supposes. This civilian thing is driving him up the wall, it’s eating away at him slowly with each police siren and news report, because how can he stay away, safely inside his apartment while his friends are out there? How can he stay eating his stupid noodles while he could be helping track the latest bomber from City Hall?

 

At least when he had been working at CatCo, he didn’t know how it felt to know you’re doing some real good.

 

So really, with that in mind, Sunday never had a fair shot at being a good day.

 

Or maybe it’s because it starts with Winn waking up at the early hours of dawn, with orange light stretching through the curtains and ghost fingers squeezing his throat. And it’s been a month since he’s been back, but sometimes, especially after a nightmare, it takes him a few minutes to recognize his bed as  _home._

 

It would be wonderful, he thinks, if he could stay inside all day after that, but he’d promised Kara he’d go to her place for lunch and if he doesn’t show up, Winn knows she will come looking for him and that’s just. There’s no need for that. It’ll be good, anyway, to see everyone. It’s still early, though, so he folds himself on his couch, the TV droning on and on and on and–

 

His phone buzzes.

 

The living room is now bathed in sunlight, bright and warm; he must have dozed off. His phone buzzes again, screen lighting up with new texts on the group chat, and it’s Kara asking someone to bring the booze. Alex must already be there, then. Winn replies a quick  _on it_ , and dashes back to his bedroom, tripping on the blankets on the way, before he’s officially late again.

 

*

 

It’s Alex that opens the door. “You’re late.”

 

“I know, but,” he holds up the six-pack like a peace offering, and grins sheepishly at her stern expression. “I come bearing gifts.”

 

She huffs, stepping aside, “fine, you may enter, then.” Inside it’s the same controlled chaos they are all used to by now. James and Kara are in the kitchen fussing over a tray that might have been a chicken one day, but by the blackened crust and the smoke wafting from the room, coal might be a better name. Alex stares at the two of them in despair for a minute before immediately pulling out her phone and dialing. “I hope everyone is in the mood for pizza. And hey, I thought you and Brainy were coming together.”

 

Winn coughs awkwardly, following her gaze to the living room. Lena and Brainy are sitting in the couch, apparently in deep discussion. “Right, no, yeah, we  _were_. But, the drinks– I had to pick up the beer, so.” She gives him a  _look,_  the one that means his answer was way too weird and she’s beginning to suspect something. “I should probably go put this in the fridge.”

 

Alex narrows her eyes, but someone picks up on the other end of the line and she’s forced to excuse herself to rattle off the order. Winn breathes out in relief. That was close. He shakes his head, heads into the kitchen just in time to see the burned chicken be thrown into the trash, Kara watching sadly as James scrapes it all into the trash can. “I don’t know what happened,” she tells James, “I did everything on the recipe– Winn! Hi, oh my god, thank you!”

 

Kara takes the beers from his hands, smiling gratefully. She leaves the pack on the table, next to an expensive-looking wine bottle that has Lena Luthor written all over it. James pats him on the back in greeting, steering Kara away from the kitchen before she could remember the fate of her failed attempt at cooking.

 

Which leaves Winn alone in the room.  _Great._  He leans over the counter, trying to catch Brainy’s eyes in the living room and hoping it looks more casual than it feels. Lena is making space for Kara beside her and James and Alex are bent over a menu, phone still pressed against her ear, so at the very least, they are all too distracted.

 

Brainy finally looks in his direction, eyebrows knitting in confusion.  _Come on,_  Winn gestures towards the kitchen with his head, doing his best to convey  _come here._  Brainy frowns harder, head shaking. Winn rolls his eyes, waving him over with a hissed  _come quick_  that he hopes Kara is too distracted to pick up on. Finally, finally, Brainy’s face clears and he excuses himself.

 

“What?” is the first thing he asks once Winn dragged them out of sight. The second is: “you’re late.”

 

Deep breaths. “I know that, yes. But look, we have a problem,” Winn whispers, “I can’t lie to Alex. Like, if she asks anything, it’s literally impossible for me to lie to her. She’s like a shark, she can smell blood in the water from miles away.”

 

“This is indeed a problem,” says Brainy, way too loud for someone trying to keep a secret from the Kryptonian in the next room over. Winn hisses a  _dude,_ and he clears his throat, lowering his voice, “it will be over if she finds out we are lying.”

 

“Exactly, so I need you to run interference,” he explains, leaning closer to speak in the quietest voice possible, “every time she tries to talk with me alone, you interrupt. Okay?”

 

“Yes, that will be easy,” Brainy says so confidently, Winn almost believes him. Almost, because asking for any more miracles would be testing his luck too much at this point. “I have become very good at coming up with excuses on the spot in this past year.”

 

Winn gives him a flat look. He’s about to ask if that’s something Kara told him when–

 

“Hey guys,” Kara appears in the doorway as if summoned, startling them. She snickers at the twin deer-in-headlights expressions they must be wearing, “what are you doing here?”

 

“We– we are,” Brainy trails off, floundering, because he’s a  _liar_. Good at coming up with excuses, right.

 

“Making out?” Winn blurts out, and it ends up rising at the end, more like a question than anything. Brainy nods furiously beside him, echoing the words.

 

Kara looks between them, or rather, at the lack of space there, and her nose wrinkles, “come on, not in my  _kitchen._ ”

 

“Sorry,” he says, swallowing the sigh of relief. Winn laughs, trying to play it off as apologetic and not hysterical, “you know me, can’t keep my hands off him.”

 

“Okay, I know,” she agrees begrudgingly, moving to grab the beers. She must have been here for the drinks, then, not because of their whispering. It almost makes him feel bad, the way her voice is gentle with genuine fondness like she’s honestly so happy for them. “You’re still on the honeymoon phase, I get it, it’s cute.”

 

“Honeymoon phase?” repeats Brainy, looking at them for clarification. “But we are not married yet?”

 

Winn chokes. “No, no marriage,  _no,_ ” He glares at Kara and her unashamed snickering. He takes it back, he doesn’t feel bad at all. “Honeymoon  _phase_ is the beginning of a relationship.”

 

“When everything’s sunshine and rainbows,” she adds with a flourish. Her smile slips a little, growing a bit serious, the telltale crinkle appearing on her brow, and she hands Brainy the pack, “hey, Brainy, could you get those to James? I need to speak with Winn for a sec?”

 

He takes the beers out of reflex, “oh. But I thought–”

 

“It’ll be quick, I’ll give him back to you in one piece, don’t worry,” Kara shoos him out of the kitchen, still smiling way too friendly for this conversation to be good. Once Brainy is safely out of earshot, she turns to Winn, “I need you to cover for me.”

 

“Oh my god,” see, this can’t be good.

 

“We’re looking for an arms dealer that’s trying to sell some alien weapons here,” she continues determinedly, “Brainy’s scanning for some signature radiation thingie and if he finds something, I’ll need you to cover for me with Lena. She’s finally warming up to Supergirl again, so I can’t have her suspecting anything today.”

 

“Why don’t you ask him then? Or Alex? Or literally anyone else? This is a terrible plan, there’s no way she won’t notice if you disappear in the middle of lunch!”

 

“I can’t ask Brainy, he’s terrible at coming up with excuses!” Kara whispers back, and yeah, she does have a point there. “And Alex will want to come with me because she’s still overreacting over the building thing yesterday.”

 

“And you think  _I’m_ any better?” Winn hisses, then steps back horrified, “You mean the thing where the guy threw you into a building, _that_ thing? Oh my god, is it that guy you’re looking for? Kara! This is an even worse plan!”

 

“Yeah, I know, but J’onn still out of town, and we blew up that weapon anyway.” She explains like that makes everything better. “So, I need you to cover for me, okay?”

 

“Let the record show I’m agreeing to this under duress,” he tells her, sighing in defeat. “But fine, let’s hope this guy sticks to commercial hours.”

 

A wave of protests rise from the living room, and Winn can vaguely recognize Brainy’s voice among them. He’s about to ask Kara what that’s all about when Alex marches into the kitchen, Brainy trailing behind her. “Hey, what’s going on here?” She asks, looking between them. “Is everything alright?”

 

Winn meets Brainy’s eyes, trying to convey  _what gives, dude?_  But Brainy shrugs, hands gesturing an  _I tried_. Winn snorts, giving him a  _seriously?_  look. Brainy shrugs again and–

 

“Winn!” Alex snaps her fingers in front of his face, sounding like she might have been calling his time for a few times now and Kara nowhere to be seen. “Stop making eyes at each other for five seconds, please? I need to talk to you. Both of you, actually.”

 

_Oh boy, she knows._ “You do?”

 

“Yes, but we need to wait for James to do his part,” in the living room, the TV turns on loudly, drowning anything else, “there. Okay, we’re good now. So, did Kara tell you about the arms dealer we’re looking for?”

 

“Yeah,” Winn agrees, knowing there’s no point trying to deny. It would only delay the inevitable. “She asked me to cover for her with Lena, you know, just in case.”

 

“Great, that’s great. You’re not doing that– neither of you is,” Alex stabs a finger in their general direction, and man, a knife would be less threatening. “Because this lunch is going to happen and it’s going to happen without a hitch. This is really important to Kara, so what we’re going to do is,” she whirls on Brainy, “if the scanner I know you smuggled out of the DEO finds anything, you tell  _me._  And you,” it’s Winn’s turn, “cover for me if I need to leave. Understand?”

 

“Ma’am, yes ma’man,” he says and Brainy nods, wisely not saying anything about the scanner, and Alex leaves with a terse  _good._  Winn whistles, this is going to be a nice, not at all stressful lunch. “By the way, word of advice, rerouting the scanner to send an alert directly to your phone is way easier than trying to bypass Alex.”

 

“Undoubtedly, but I don’t have a phone,” and with that, he too leaves Winn in the kitchen.

 

You know what, Winn needs new friends.

 

*

 

The lunch is going well.

 

That should have been the first sign shit was about to hit the fan.

 

Honestly, it really should. That, and the fact that weird shit always happens everytime they get everyone together around a table.

 

But it had been going fine, until something beeped loudly from Brainy’s pocket. It was a high-pitched, unmistakable beep of something electronic and all heads swivel around looking for the source. And by all, Winn means Lena’s, because literally, everyone else in the room is some kind of superhero who knows the sound of an alert when they hear it.

 

Kara has a panicked look on her eyes and that’s not good, she’s about to say something that will make no sense whatsoever because Lena is here and that shuts down a few of her brain cells. “The microwave!” She says suddenly, “I forgot something on the microwave. It’s– I need to go. Check it, in the kitchen.” She gives Winn a pleading look, clearly meaning this is his cue to cover for her, “right, Winn? You know, that thing. In the microwave.”

 

But between Supergirl and Alex Danvers, Winn is  _way_  more scared of the latter, so he checks with Alex first, finding her glaring meaningfully at him. “Uh, the thing,  _right._  No, I can go look, you should stay,” someone kicks him under the table, “I mean, Alex. Alex should check it. Because you know how your microwave is.” He turns to Lena, catching her attention while Alex slips out, “it’s barely working at this point, really. It always shocks anyone that tries to open the door. You have to unplug it right off the wall first. So many exposed wires. Real fire hazard. Right, Kara? Weren’t you going to tell Lena about that, that time a, uh, raccoon broke into your place?”

 

“A raccoon?” Lena’s eyebrows rise in perfect arches, “this high up?”

 

Kara’s smile is frozen in place but her eyes glare daggers at him. “Yes, weird, right? A raccoon breaking into an apartment.”

 

Alex leans over the counter in the kitchen, “Brainy, could you come to help me? With the microwave?”

 

“Yes, yes, I will help you with the  _microwave,_ ” he hurries out of his chair, and Winn can see Kara and James internally wincing at the emphasizes on the word.

 

“So, raccoons?” says James, after a minute of silence.

 

In the kitchen, something beeps again.

 

*

 

It’s been fifteen minutes and they’re not back yet. Winn thinks the time Kara loudly announced if anyone wanted more pizza she had been covering the sound of Brainy flying Alex out of a window, but he’s not sure.

 

Lena is beginning to glance worriedly at the kitchen. She’s probably wondering if they got electrocuted by now. Or attacked by a flying raccoon. After fifteen minutes, anything is possible. “Should we check on them?” She asks, ignoring Winn’s very valid point on the city’s pigeon problem. “They’ve been in there for so long.”

 

“No,” Kara says, and her voice breaks embarrassingly at the middle. It’s a two-letter word, so that’s a true feat. “It’s just– there are so many exposed wires.”

 

“I tried making popcorn once,” James adds, “got a really bad shock. That microwave is the real supervillain here.”

 

Kara laughs even though it’s not funny and Winn does too because dropping any variation of the  _S_  word here is not cool. They both must be sounding verging on hysterical, but he sees the front door opening quietly and Alex slipping back in with Brainy in tow. She has blood smudging her cheek and when she waves him over, pointing the kitchen, Winn can see red staining the collar of her shirt.

 

This is going great. “Anyone wants wine?” He tells the table, already pushing his chair back, “I’m going to go grab the wine.”

 

The kitchen is deathly silent. Mainly, because Alex is busy wiping blood with Kara’s napkins and Brainy has set up a computer on the table, scanner hooked on it and everything. “Are you freaking kidding me?” Winn hisses, feeling a headache knocking at the back of his brain. “This needs to go  _now_.”

 

“This is scanning the country for any signs of Cesium-137, a highly– ”

 

_“I know what Cesium is,_ ” his whisper rises in volume, along with his indignation, but Winn stops himself, taking a deep breath. “Lena is already wondering what’s taking you guys so long. She’s gonna come see for herself at any minute, so this whole base of operations can’t be here when she does. Where did you even get all this stuff?”

 

“How’s everything in there?” asks Alex, throwing the bloodied napkins on the trash. “But good to know you guys are still bickering like a married couple.”

 

“I’m not going to answer that,” Winn tells her, “but you two need to get your butts back there. I can’t stall anymore, I’ve run out of things to say five minutes ago.”

 

“Okay, what is going on here?” Kara says angrily in a hushed voice, hands on her hips and eyes narrowed, “and don’t say  _nothing_ because I heard your whispering.”

 

Alex sighs tiredly, “you don’t have to worry, we handled it.” She smiles kindly, “you can go back in there and worry about asking Lena to your New Year’s dinner.”

 

“I already did that,” Kara scowls, “don’t change the subject! This is about the arms dealer, isn’t it? I can believe the both of you went off to get him without me! And  _you_  were covering for them,” she focuses the full force of her disappointed puppy eyes on Winn, face scrunching up in frustration, “ooh, I should’ve known you would side with your boyfriend. This is mutiny!”

 

“Technically,” Brainy interrupts, “we all work for the DEO, so it would only be considered mutiny if we turned on  _Alex.”_

 

“Wait,” Alex shushes them, “if Kara and Winn are here, who’s with Lena?”

 

They catch the tail end of James’ strangled  _wait_  and they all scramble to stand in front of the table, hiding Brainy’s computer from sight before Lena Luthor steps into view. “Is everything alright? You all seem to be clearly in the middle of something, so I can go if–”

 

“No,” Kara squeals, making an aborted motion of stepping forward and stopping herself, “it’s. A work thing, but it’s all good now. You don’t have to go, we haven’t even had dessert yet and– please don’t go?”

 

Lena doesn’t go.

 

All in all, it could’ve been way worse, for their standards, at least. Winn still got leftovers to bring home and Brainy didn’t even make any comments when they shared a cab home.

 

It’s not a bad way to spend his Sunday.


	5. let's start the new year right

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New Year's Eve, as well as expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so, turns out I played myself with the holidays arc, but it's all good now, back to what I had sort-of planned for this fic. Also, I don't think I've posted here this year yet, so happy new year, guys!

For once, Winn isn’t late.

 

In fact, he’s five minutes  _ early _ .

 

And if this might have something to do with the fact that Brainy knocked on his door half an hour ago to remind him they should carpool this time, well. Alex and Kara don’t have to know that.

 

“See who needs an  _ I’m late  _ jar,” he scoffs, glaring at the closed door. They are getting better at this fake dating things, he thinks. But maybe it’s just that this is the first big gathering they’re going together– yesterday totally doesn’t count, there were too many shenanigans to count. Today is the real test, if they can fool everyone during Kara’s dinner, then they  _ really  _ can do this.

 

“You are talking to yourself,” Brainy comments, reaching past Winn to try and ring the doorbell again, but Winn bats his hand away. “Maybe they didn’t hear us the first time! You  _ are  _ mumbling– did you know that is one of the first signs of–”

 

“That sentence better be ending with genius or–  _ hey,”  _ Winn loudly draws out the word as the door swings open, hoping to cover up their argument, and snatches his hand back from where it had been pointing a finger threateningly. He brandishes the champagne they brought, grinning up, “Happy New Year!”

 

It’s Alex that answers the door, but she looks harried, her usual impeccable DEO uniform is askew, boots unlaced, “oh thank god,” she pushes them out of the way, locking up behind her, “Marlo is threatening to blow up the hospital and Town Square, dinner is canceled. Kara’s already there and I’m on my way to the hospital.”

 

“They put up a giant screen on Town Square, half the city’s there to watch the ball drop live– hundreds of people–”

 

“Yeah, I know,” Alex throws him a key, already shooing them back to the elevator, “which is why I need you and Brainy in the DEO asap. If he’s using the kind of weapons he deals, then we can’t waste any more time. Take Kara’s car, it’s on the garage somewhere but it should be working.”

 

_ “Kara has a car?” _

 

“Why would Supergirl have a car?”

 

“Okay, you two need to learn to  _ use your inside voices,”  _ she huffs, pressing the buttons with more force than necessary, “and of course she does, she’s just terrible at driving.”

 

The elevator music plays obnoxiously cheerful as ever, and Alex seems about ready to draw her gun and shoot the speaker box right off the wall. Winn isn’t aware of all the details, has no idea where this guy even came from, but part of him is buzzing with excitement, rebelling against the boring civilian life. Don’t get him wrong– blow up the town?  _ Bad,  _ very bad. But also, going back to work?  _ Awesome. _

 

“And I know you still have to take that psych evaluation next week, but this is an emergency,” Alex continues, effectively bursting his bubble. “It’s an  _ all hands on deck  _ night.”

 

The doors ping open and she is stalking down the hall, leaving Winn and Brainy to figure out for themselves which car is Kara’s. Winn, for one, hopes it’s something very embarrassing that he will be able to lord over her head for the near future.

 

*

 

“I’m adding  _ near-death experience  _ to my list of things that happened in the 21st century,” Brainy tells him as they rush through the hallways at the DEO. Agents are scattered around, like spooked little mice, not knowing what to do, and Winn feels a pang of sympathy for them. Without both Alex and J’onn, they must be even worse off than him. And  _ man _ , Winn had to listen to Brainy bitching all the way here, “you broke so many traffic laws I lost count–  _ and it’s impossible for me to lose count!” _

 

“For the last time,” Winn does  _ not  _ whine, “we were in a rush! We can’t wait for every red light! Or follow the speed limit and– and jaywalking is also a crime! That guy was  _ clearly  _ jaywalking, alright?”

 

“I shall drive the next time,” Brainy decides, completely ignoring Winn’s very valid counter-argument, “the probability of a car accident with you behind the wheel is too high.”

 

“Excuse me? Do  _ you  _ even know how to drive one of  _ our  _ cars?”

 

“The risk will still be lower.”

 

“Okay, that’s it, I’m tuning you out,” he says and promptly begins walking faster.  _ Jesus Christ,  _ they are so not going to be able to fool anyone for much longer. He leaves Brainy behind, feeling stupidly smug for reaching the control room first, and heads straight for his old chair– 

 

And for one brief moment, everything’s right in the world.

 

– Kara’s voice rings through the comms,  _ “guys, I found the bomb in Town Square, it’s in the sewers, how do I shut it down? Hello? Anyone listening?” _

 

“Loud and clear,” Winn says, knowing his smile is stretching for miles. Out of the corner of his eyes, he sees Brainy finally pushing past a group of panicked agents. “But I need deets, hang on.”

 

_ “Winn?”  _ She squeals happily as if there wasn’t a very dangerous device on her hands,  _ “you’re back!” _

 

_ “Only for tonight,”  _ Alex warns, and it echoes strangely. She must be in the sewers too.  _ “Don’t think I forgot the paperwork.” _

 

_ “You are no fun,”  _ he deadpans, even as his grin stays in place, even as he scans the sewers for the bomb. Just one more– 

 

It pulls up on its own in the screen.  _ What the–  _

 

“I’ve scanned the sewers under the square, we should have visual on the bomb in a few seconds,” Brainy says from the chair at his left, and Winn rolls his eyes. Of course he did. On the screen, the tiny blinking dot is magnified until they can see an X-Ray of the device. “This does not– I’m unfamiliar with this design.”

 

_ “I don’t like the sound of that,”  _ Alex speaks again,  _ “I’ve found mine too. There’s a countdown.” _

 

“It’s going to blow up at midnight, isn’t it?” Winn asks tiredly. Of course it is. A flair for the dramatics is a requirement for bad guys, he’s pretty sure they don’t let you go about your villainy and nefarious business if you fail the theatrics exam. “That being said,”  he continues, squinting at the screen, “this is giving me major Fort Rozz vibes. Didn’t we bust some guy dealing Kryptonian tech once?”

 

_ “Yeah, Frank McAllison. He had been buying things off the escaped inmates and reselling– and it wasn’t just Kryptonian either.”  _ Alex recites, and he can hear the frown in her voice,  _ “you think these came from him?” _

 

“I mean, there was no way to be sure we got  _ all  _ of the stuff back,” he shrugs, watching Brainy turn the bomb’s schematics around, “but if it  _ was  _ from Fort Rozz…” he trails off, trying to remember if they downloaded all the data from the prison before Kara sent it flying off into space.

 

“It would be on the prison’s inventory,” Brainy finishes, and if this were a cartoon, Winn thinks a lightbulb would appear above his head. He entertains the idea for about half a second because it’s better than dwelling on the two bombs about to blow up two-thirds of the city. Brainy concentrates, connecting with the DEO’s servers, and files flicker on the screen, too quickly for Winn to process. And that– that is  _ so _ annoying, how he just _ takes over _ things. But there’s a countdown and hundreds of people and there’s no way,  _ no way,  _ Winn could fine comb through all these files in time. So it’s fine.

 

And if Winn still wants to find a way to mess up the unruffled look he always wear– that’s just another Tuesday. 

 

“There’s a match,” Brainy snaps back, straightening up suddenly on his chair. “It’s a very old Andorian design, hasn’t been used in a few years. Which would make sense if it really was made by an inmate.”

 

Kara whoops on the comms and Alex’s relieved sigh echoes soon after, slightly distorted by the sewers acoustics. The specifics provided by Fort Rozz’s old files line up perfectly with the visual they have on Kara’s bomb, down to the last screw and glue, but. There’s always a  _ but.  _ “Not out of the woods yet,” Winn grimaces, pulling up the scans he got from Alex’s device. It’s a different style, probably from a different maker, just different enough to throw them for a loop and lose them a time they  _ definitely  _ don’t have. He glances at the clock; five to midnight. “Hate to be a downer, but we have a problem.”

 

_ “Of course we do,”  _ Kara grumbles, sighing a twin sigh from Alex’s,  _ “what now?” _

 

“They’re different bombs,” Brainy tells her, and there’s something tired on his voice that makes Winn think that  _ unruffled  _ might not be such an accurate descriptor as he originally thought. “And Director Danvers’s has no match on the server.”

 

The clock keeps ticking mercilessly, and a few of the nearby agents are beginning to look nervously between them, hands hovering over their phones. That’s not good; if word gets out– 

 

“You can figure out how this thing works faster,” Winn says, turning to Brainy. The look on his eyes is two shades off deer caught in the headlights, at the most, but it vanishes quickly, determination setting in firmly after. “I’ll walk Supergirl through disarming hers, you worry about Alex’s.”

 

Brainy doesn’t hesitate, only casts him a doubtful look as he focuses on his task, “the files are in Kryptonian.”

 

“I know that,” he glowers, inching his chair further away with petty vindication, then clears his throat. “Okay, Supergirl, I’m not even going to try to pronounce all this, so let’s all use a bit of imagination with the literal translation, alright?”

 

Kara makes an affirmative noise, and fine, it’s been literal  _ years  _ since Winn had to teach himself the basics to fight off Indigo, he might be more than a little rusty, but it’s all they have as of right now so they’ll have to make do. Faintly, he catches bits of whatever Brainy is telling Alex, barely aware of anything that isn’t translating the confusing symbols into things that make sense and complementing with bits of engineering and mechanics he knows like the back of his hand. 

 

Two minutes to midnight.

 

The bomb is halfway undone.

 

One minute to midnight.

 

Is it unscrewing the third screw or tearing off the wires?

 

Thirty seconds.

 

Definitely tearing off the wires.

 

Right?

 

Ten seconds.

 

Okay. Just– there should be a  _ pop!  _ noise any time now.

 

Five seconds.

 

Anytime now.

 

4.

 

3.

 

2.

 

1– 

 

An explosion goes off in the sky as fireworks outshine the stars with bright, colorful lights, and a crowd cheers the New Year, drunkenly loud, almost drowning out the twin  _ pop!  _ sounds of the bombs’ detonator falling off harmlessly in the dirty water of National City’s sewer system.

 

A wave of clapping begins behind them, and Kara is laughing breathlessly in the comms with Alex cursing her heart out in a tone too relieved to be taken seriously. One of the agents brings an open champagne bottle.

 

_ “Happy New Year, guys!”  _ Kara gushes,  _ “you so need to see the fireworks– it’s so beautiful!” _

 

_ “Kara, if I see you hovering anywhere near the fireworks when I come out of the sewers,”  _ Alex threatens without any real bite,  _ “I swear to god– wow. Okay, she’s really not exaggerating this time.”  _ A pause.  _ “Happy New Year.” _

 

Winn slouches on his chair, giggling incredulously, exhaling so unbelievably relieved, and turns to see Brainy leaning against the consoles, the tense line of his shoulders less tight-edged. “Hey,” he says, holding his hand up for a fist bump and not caring if his voice comes out softer than he intended. “Happy New Year.”

 

Brainy regards his hand with an odd expression, one Winn can’t quite decipher, before tilting his head with a small smile, “Happy New Year, Winslow.” 

 

He returns the fist-bump.

 

It’s a quiet moment, with the world cheering on outside and the odd, unnamed look on Brainys eyes, but if Winn had to label it, he thinks it just might mean progress.

  
  
  
  



	6. if life were made of moments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The One With the Adventure in a Grocery Store

Winn slaps the piece of paper on the table next to Alex’s tablet with a cry of triumph, grinning wide enough to make his cheeks ache. She doesn’t startle, slowly turning towards him, one eyebrow raised. He slides it back a little, his grin turning sheepish but no less happy, “sorry I took such a hard instance, but I’m very excited,” he spreads his arms, the computers behind him, “I’m back!”

 

Alex looks down at the paper, his psych evaluation signed and stamped by the DEO’s appointed psychologist, proving he's ready for duty. Things used to be easier, before the whole transparency policy thing; now they can’t afford to wave off technicalities, not even for analysts. But that’s fine, it’s all in the past now. Alex looks gravely at the paper, checking out both front and back, then fixes him with a critical stare. It goes on for a full minute, enough to make him nervous, but a smile breaks out on her face, and she pulls him into a hug, “welcome back!”

 

“Too strong, can’t breathe,” he wheezes dramatically, as she releases him, lightly punching his arm in retaliation. The familiarity of being back is an exciting breath of fresh air, a lungful of  _ home  _ a month into his return. Now, finally, things are settling into what they should be. “Thanks, Director. Alex. Director Alex?”

 

She snorts, “you know Alex is fine. But,” she picks her tablet back up, his paperwork handed to another agent to take to HR.  _ “Tomorrow,  _ you’re back  _ tomorrow.” _

 

“But  _ Alex,”  _ he whines, following her around the command center, “I’ve got all the paperwork, and I’m so  _ bored.  _ Come on, there’s got to be something for me to do.”

 

“HR needs to sign off first,” she stops, turning back to him,  _ “ _ go home. You’re still on vacation, go do something fun– you know, I would love to go on vacation.”

 

“No, you would not, Alex Danvers. You’d go stir crazy, like me. Please?”

 

_ “Go home.” _

 

“Or,” he blocks her path again, “I could go work into upgrades for your weapons! I have so many ideas– I was right, by the way, magnets  _ are  _ the future! There are  _ so many  _ things I want to do with that– it wouldn’t be so bad, right? I wouldn’t even be near the real work stuff.”

 

There’s a pause, and Alex bites her lip, considering his suggestion. And Winn, he can see she’s swayed by his argument, she  _ wants  _ to agree with him, but Brainy, of course, chooses that moment to join the conversation “I couldn’t help overhearing,” he says, not at all apologetic, “but do I need to remind you cannot use technology not yet invented? Rushing the timeline could have disastrous consequences.”

 

_ Damn it.  _ “Look,” Alex says, taking Brainy by the shoulders and pushing him towards Winn, “you have a shiny new boyfriend, go have fun. Go celebrate, or something.”

 

“But, Director, I’m–”

 

“Going to take the rest of the day off, yes.” She gestures the computer beside them, the DEO logo floating idly on the screen, and the team of agents sitting on their desks, waiting on standby. “Contrary to popular belief, we do have an entire team of very capable analysts that can hold down the fort without either of you for one day. Besides, everything’s calm since New Year’s Eve, it’ll be fine.” She makes a face, “and to be honest, both of you never take a day off and it’s beginning to look bad on us. Don’t you go on dates? It’s like you’re always here.”

 

Well. What can they say to that? Brainy is looking a little shocked from the sudden turn of events and that  _ does _ make Winn feel a little better. Serves him right for being a stick in the mud and ruining his plans. So he swings an arm around Brainy, pulling him closer, and grins, “ _ what _ ? Of course we go on dates.”

 

“All the dates,” Brainy adds, helpfully, and Winn grits his teeth through a smile.

 

“Yeah, what he said. And on that note,” he makes a show of glancing at his watch. “We are going on one right now, right, darling?”

 

“We are?” Winn gives him a meaningful  _ look.  _ “I mean, yes! We shall take advantage of this unexpected yet unquestionably welcome free time.”

 

Alex snickers, “okay, you guys go do that and give  _ me  _ some peace and quiet for a change, okay?”

 

“You know you love us!” He calls back, already steering Brainy with him towards the exit.

 

He hears Alex sigh, “unfortunately,” and laughs.

 

*

 

One good thing about going grocery shopping in the middle of the afternoon is the lack of people around. It’s kind of like walking around inside of a Walmart at 2 am, but with less of a liminal vibe. And also, it’s a Wednesday, so vegetables are cheaper.

 

The government really doesn’t pay enough.

 

But greens are for later, now he pauses on the cereal section of the aisle, looking for his favorite brand. After this, he should probably buy at least enough stuff for some homemade meals this week, eating that much take out can’t be good for his health. Or his bank account.

 

“Is this what you’d call a date?” Brainy asks, sounding genuinely curious. He’s taken over pushing their cart a few aisles ago, after claiming Winn was more likely to bump into the piled cans in the middle of the store. Which is a lie, for the record, it was  _ one  _ not-even-that-close call. “Picking out unhealthy food?”

 

“No, it’s what we’d call running errands,” Winn answers distractedly, throwing carelessly a cereal box in the cart. Now, to the mac-and-cheese. “In fact, I told you didn’t have to come with me.”

 

“And I told you I had to, in case Alex called looking for either of us,” he picks up the cereal, frowning as he reads the back of the box like a nerd, “did you know this is extremely bad for your health?”

 

Winn rolls his eyes, “you don’t even have a phone. And yes, I did know that, but you can’t give me crap about my food, you eat pizza and that’s nowhere near healthy either.”

 

“I don’t eat it every day,” Brainy shrugs, putting it back down with a disgusted face beside the orange juice. Then, he pauses, rooting for something in his pocket, “I do have a phone, here.”

 

He hands Winn his phone as if Winn would need proof it was, indeed, the real thing, and not a cardboard cutout. “What? But you said you didn’t have one before! When did you have time to buy this?”

 

Brainy  _ smirks,  _ a mischievous glint in his eyes that Winn hadn’t seen before. It lights up his face, makes him look younger, almost carefree. “Yes, I was, I believe the term is  _ messing with you.” _

 

“What?” Winn gapes, watching frozen as he pushes the cart past him and towards the wrong side of the store. “Since when do you have a sense of humor?”

 

It’s a stupid, baseless insult, made just to rile him up, and they both know it. “You  _ have  _ been gone for a while, Winslow.”

 

“Hey, low blow, dude.” And the thing is if it had from anyone else, it would have been. But while Winn had been gone, so had Brainy, from his own point of view, and he still  _ is.  _ So the joke slides off easily, brushed off with a laugh, “and you gotta stop calling me that, man. You’re my fake-boyfriend, it’s super weird.”

 

“I guess so,” Brainy lets Winn lead them back to the boxed mac-and-cheese, looking thoughtful, “although old habits are hard to break, I’m bound to slip up.”

 

“That’s fine, we can play it off as a joke,” he begins waving him off when an idea hits him, stopping him dead on his tracks,“ _ dude.  _ Pet names, we need to come up with pet names.”

 

Apparently, someone has already explained to him the concept of pet names, because Brainy shuts him down emphatically. “No, absolutely not. That would be entirely unnecessary.”

 

“No, we gotta! It’s tradition,” Winn grins, leaning against the cart to bat his eyelashes overly flirty, “babe?”

 

“No,” Brainy gives him an unimpressed look.

 

“Sweetums?”

 

“Absolutely not.”

 

“Cupcake?”

 

“You will not call me after a type of cake.”

 

“Pumpkin?”

 

“Or fruits.”

 

“Honey?”

 

“I  _ will  _ kill you.”

 

“Darling? Come on, I’ve used this one before, it’s not so bad!”

 

Brainy sighs tiredly, looking up as if asking the skies for patience. “Fine, that is the lesser evil. You may use it on occasion.”

 

“You know I’m never using your name again now, right?” Winn grins, leaning back and waiting a few seconds before,  _ “darling.” _

 

“I do,” he gives the cart a light push, nudging Winn to start walking again. Brainy’s making a show of sounding annoyed, but he knows better. The barely concealed small smile on his face betrays him– he’s finding this funny too. “You are insufferable. Weren’t you going to buy that box of lies?”

 

“Are you talking about the mac-and-cheese?” Winn laughs, moving after the cart hits his legs again.

 

“Yes, but if you think that is any real macaroni or cheese on that,” he scoffs, “you are a bigger fool than I thought.”

 

“Dude, you are so going to try the mac-and-cheese,” he dumps four boxes on the cart, raising an eyebrow in challenge, “and you’re gonna like it.”

 

“I most certainly will not,” Brainy tells him matter-of-factly, swapping the boxes with the orange juice. He looks up to find Winn watching him, and shrugs, saying defensively, “what? The frozen chicken was going to make the cardboard soggy.”

 

“Didn’t say anything,” Winn raises his hands in front of his chest, grinning, “come on, I need vegetables too.”

 

“Finally, something that will not kill you in ten to twenty years.”

 

*

 

Winn dumps his grocery bag on the kitchen table, making space for Brainy to do the same with his armful of bags. “I want to say show off, but I won’t. Instead, I’ll say thanks for helping me bring all this up."

 

“That is still saying show off,” Brainy points out, amused.

 

“Yes, but I was sneaky about it,” he answers easily, “you should take notes.”

 

“You are welcome,” Brainy tells him, still begrudgingly amused. He glances at the clock, “but I should go.”

 

“Really? Don’t wanna stay and try the true all-American mac-and-cheese?”

 

“Wasn’t it originally from France?”

 

“Yeah, but this one is the American version– one hundred percent processed and comes in a box.”

 

He snorts, “thank you, but no. It’s getting late, I need to return to the DEO. I told the cab driver I would only be a minute, he’s waiting.”

 

“Right, sure, but wait– here’s my number,” he scribbles quickly on the back of a takeout flier, handing it over, “text me later so I’ll have yours. We should have each other’s numbers, that’s dating 101,” he pauses, just now realizing it, “actually, that’s being friends 101.”

 

Brainy nods, folding the paper carefully and putting in his pocket. “I suppose I’ll see you tomorrow.” He hesitates at the door, turning with a smile, “welcome back, Winslow.”

 

And then he’s gone, closing the door behind him. Winn shakes his head, going back to putting away his groceries. Today sure didn’t go as he had initially expected, but hey, he did finally fill out all the paperwork to go back to work. He even went over everything on his admittedly sloppy shopping list, that’s more adulting than he’d thought he would manage today. And, if he had to, under penalty of death and only after swearing to tell the truth, and only the truth, then Winn would have to admit, it was kind of fun.

 

But whatever, tomorrow’s a brand new day and– his phone buzzes with a new text.

 

_ Don’t save it under some ridiculous contact name,  _ the unknown number threatens.

 

_ i would never,  _ Winn texts back, grinning, and saves it under  _ darling,  _ adding a heart for good measure. Note to self: send a screenshot of this later.   
  
  



	7. cheap thrills

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's date night, y'all

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LOOK this was supposed to be updated a lot sooner but I was halfway done with the chapter when my brain went "nope, no, its garbage. do it again, from the top." 
> 
> So here it is, chapter 7, 2.0
> 
> ( and also, if you notice there's a definite number of chapters now-- that's just an expectative, so i feel slightly more organized. It may change before we reach the end. )

Weeks pass surprisingly uneventfully, but even amidst the dull boredom, something stays with Winn, nagging at him to pay attention. Alex hadn’t meant anything by her comment, not really, not this time, but it makes clear they have to step up their game if they want to keep this up for much longer. Soon, people will begin to wonder why they never seem to go on “dates”. And god knows the DEO loves a good gossip.

 

So when Kara asks if they want to go get drinks after work, Winn makes a big show out of telling her  _ no, he can’t, actually, because you see, it’s date night.  _

 

The choice of words is important, too. He’s very proud of that.  _ Date night,  _ implying a routine, implying they did this before, implying they go out regularly.

 

And he thinks Brainy notices it, too, because he smiles from across the table, knowing and private, eyes shining under the lights, before going back to his conversation with Alex.

 

Kara grins, watching them. “Right, are you guys planning anything big for Valentine’s Day?”

 

“Sure,” he replies easily, “I’ve got reservations at that fancy french place downtown.”

 

She coos, shaking his shoulder excitedly, “oh my god, that’s so romantic! You’re taking him back to the place of your first date!”

 

“Yeah, well, not to brag, but I’m a damn good boyfriend.”

 

“You are constantly bragging,” Brainy comments, suddenly appearing at his side, “although you’re not incorrect.  _ This time.” _

 

Winn snorts, “thanks, babe.” A foot steps on his, and he has to bite back his snickers, “anyway. We were talking about how awesome I am, right? We should go back to that.”

 

“No, but seriously,  _ how  _ did you get that reservation? And at Valentine’s Day?” Kara says, gaping, “I heard there’s a month wait list.”

 

He shrugs, stuffing his hands into his pockets, “ _ two  _ months long. But I actually made them back in December? I mean, I was already there anyway, so I asked just to see– who knows, right? And there was a table left, so I took it. Seemed smart at the time.”

 

“Not at all,” Brainy frowns, apparently not grasping the logic of that, “two months are too far ahead, what if we had broken up?”

 

“Nah,” Winn grins, swinging an arm around his shoulder, “I thought it was worth the gamble. ‘Sides, I have faith in us, man.”

 

The frown clears from his face, but Brainy keeps looking at him with surprise– no, that’s not right. Something surprised and disbelieving in his eyes that Winn wishes he had more time to figure out properly– 

 

Someone makes gagging noises nearby, drawing their attention away from each other. It’s Alex, faking a disgusted grimace, “yeah, yeah, we get it,” she rolls her eyes, waving them off, “you guys are disgustingly in love.”

 

If she wasn’t grinning just like her sister, Winn  _ maybe  _ would be inclined to believe the annoyance on her words, but as it is, Alex isn’t fooling anyone. She’s just as happy for them. And _ maybe _ if he hadn’t meant it what he had said earlier– he did have faith in them at the time. Half-drunk and excited with their new plan, he had been absolutely goddam sure they would be able to pull this off– then  _ maybe  _ he would feel a little bad for tricking them.

 

“It’s a love story for the ages,” he says. His smile slips briefly, but it goes unnoticed.

 

“Absolutely revolting,” she shakes her head.

 

Kara elbows her sister, snickering along. “Let them live, Alex,” she keeps a straight face for about a second before adding, “they have a  _ date  _ tonight.”

 

“You know, I met thirteen-years-old more mature than you two,” Winn tells them matter-of-factly, then turns to Brainy, “are you ready to go? Or do I need to entertain the peanut gallery for much longer?”

 

“There are no peanuts here,” Brainy gives him a perplexed look, “do  _ you _ want peanuts?”

 

Right, he should’ve seen that coming, this one’s on him. “No, it’s just an expression, it means they’re children and their comments are stupid.”

 

“Oh. It’s a very misleading expression,” he shrugs, “but in that case, yes, we can go now.”

 

“Great,” Winn claps, whirling around, “shall we?”

 

“Have a good date,” Kara calls.

 

“And bring him back before midnight!” Alex adds.

 

“Will do,” he laughs.

 

* 

 

“I have a very important question,” Winn says with a serious expression. He’s just finished locking the door, and Brainy is still hovering nearby. “Have you ever played Mario Kart?”

 

He throws his keys in the vague direction of the dish by the door, and Brainy follows him into the living room, sitting down on the couch. “I have not. The only games I know of are the ones Kara has brought at Game Nights.”

 

“Yeah, right, right, she told me you were there a few times,” Winn says, hooking up his game system on the TV. “She also mentioned it was a bit of a learning curve?”

 

“There were no explosions and no kittens,” he complains, huffing forlornly, “everything is so misleading in this century.”

 

“Even Scrabble? I thought you would be good at that one.”

 

“We haven’t had the opportunity to play it,” Brainy says diplomatically and takes the controller passed to him, turning it around curiously.

 

“Seriously? Kara hasn’t lifted the ban yet?” Winn scrunches up his face, “but then again, we’re still strongly against Mario Kart during Game Night, so. That’s fair, I guess?”

 

Only sort of, though. Adding the letter  _ s  _ to every completed word on the board just to see Alex slowly go through all five stages of grief does  _ not  _ compare to breaking one’s favorite controller during Mario Kart. The thing was  _ crushed.  _ To  _ smithereens.  _ But he supposes some games are just not meant to be played by a group of very,  _ very _ competitive people.

 

They haven’t banned Monopoly yet, though, for some reason.

 

“Nevermind that,” he shakes his head, focusing on the task ahead, “so. I figured since we gotta stick together for a couple hours, we could just stay here and chill? I’ve got Mario Kart, Netflix, and the pizza place on speed dial.”

 

“Not Massimo’s?”

 

“God no, that place is stricken from the records. Giorgino’s two blocks down– and before you ask,  _ yes,  _ I’ve checked and they’re willing to make your weird apples and olives pizza.”

 

Brainy smiles. “It is the only acceptable flavor of pizza.”

 

“And people think pineapples were the real crime,” Winn laments.

 

The familiar song kicks in as the menu pops up, and Winn does his best to explain the game. It’s fairly simple, after all, and it’s not as if they were going straight for the rainbow road. Brainy picks up on it quickly, choosing Luigi as his avatar. Winn, of course, chooses Yoshi because some traditions are meant to be followed. And, weirdly enough, it’s not so bad. Throwing shells at him is very entertaining, watching his confusion as to why he’s suddenly spiraling off the road turn into suspicion turn into  _ really?  _ And  _ that  _ turns into spite pretty quickly. 

 

Because the thing about Mario Kart is that it’s so much more fun when you’re overly competitive– and not gonna lie, both of them are guilty as charged on that one.

 

“Fuck off,” Winn says, too busy to physically flip him off, “that’s cheating!”

 

“No, I am merely using the resources available in the game,” Brainy replies calmly.

 

“I don’t know how yet, but I know you are and I  _ will  _ figure it out,” he threatens, leaning to the right as he makes a curve, “in the meantime–”

 

“I’ve told you I’m not–  _ wait.  _ What happened? Why have I shrunk?” Brainy glares at him, “and  _ I’m  _ the one cheating?”

 

Winn laughs.

 

He had been so prepared for tonight to suck, it’s almost upsetting how well it goes. They don’t argue properly, no more than the usual bickering, which by now it’s mostly  _ fun.  _ Brainy accepts the beer he tips in his direction, humming pleased and somehow not swerving on the road while holding the controller one-handed.

 

_ That’s so cheating. _

 

“So, you want that pizza now?” Winn asks, pausing the game.

 

“I could eat,” Brainy decides after a moment of indecision. He might have been aiming for a nonchalant, cool reply, but his stomach betrays him, growling earnestly, and he sighs, halfway amused, “I meant, yes, I would like that pizza now.”

 

Hiding his snickers, Winn digs around for his phone, lost somewhere in the mess they made of the coffee table. The pizza place  _ is  _ on speed dial and the teenager on the other end of the line apparently isn’t paid enough to judge his weird ass order. 

 

“Appalling,” he says later, when the two pizzas are laid side by side and the olives stare back at his soul amidst the apples. “God really has left us.”

 

“Try it,” Brainy tells him, eyebrows raising in clear challenge. He picks up a slice for himself and nudges the box towards Winn.

 

And well. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that Winslow Schott, Junior cannot back down from a dare, so he sets down his own pepperoni slice and carefully takes the olive and apples, gingerly raising it as if it were a nuclear bomb about to go off in a crowded mall. A deep breath. He takes a small bite, chewing thoughtfully. “Eh, it’s not so bad. I thought it would be worse, to be honest.”

 

Brainy gives him a victorious smirk, “would this be a good time to say  _ I told you so?” _

 

“It’s never a good time to say that,” he scowls, washing down the taste with beer, “and it’s still weird.”

 

“I’ll take that as a  _ yes.”  _ They eat in relative silence for a while, and Winn isn’t surprised to see him slowly working his way through the entire pizza. The game is soon switched for some very unrealistic action movie neither of them recognizes, but the explosions do look cool with the electronic soundtrack. 

 

“It’s a shame there are no pizza places in the future,” Brainy comments idly.

 

“Oh my god, _I know, right?_ I searched everywhere for one, it didn’t even have to be good, the bar was at _existing._ ” Winn says, gesturing broadly with a slice, “and how come there are no bananas, either? And no one even knew what I was talking about, it was like they didn’t even exist! Like, I didn’t look it up because, you know, spoilers, but _what happened?_ Did we all as a species develop a sudden aggressive allergy to bananas and had to destroy all records of the fruit? Is there gonna be another banana apocalypse in the next centuries– _what?”_

 

He stops, self-consciously wiping his mouth with a napkin, because Brainy is staring at him strangely. To be fair, everything about all of this is strange. But he caught him doing that before; sometimes at work, Winn will turn to say something, only to find Brainy already looking back. It’s odd and offputting, and honestly? A lot easier to just chalk it up to another one of his quirks and call it a day. That’s probably the explanation anyway. Now, though, Brainy shrugs, “nothing. Do you always feel this passionate about fruits?” A pause. “Did you say  _ another  _ banana apocalypse?”

 

_ “Dude,”  _ Winn breathes, sitting up properly because it’s not every day you get to school  _ Brainy  _ about something. “It’s so much less exciting than it sounds, but here’s the thing– “

 

*

 

It’s a little after ten o’clock when he walks Brainy to the door, awkwardly stopping in the doorway. He scratches the back of his neck, “so. I guess it wasn’t all that bad, after all.”

 

“I suppose it was not unpleasant,” Brainy allows, his lips twitching, “although, I do have a request– next time, may I bring the movie?”

 

“Sure,” Winn says easily, then stops. He narrows his eyes, “am I going to regret agreeing to this?”

 

Now, Brainy grins openly, startlingly amused, “well, you’ll just have to wait and see. Good night, Winn. And thank you.”

 

It’s something in the way he says it that Winn wonders what exactly he’s being thanked for, too warm, too grateful to pass as simply politeness. Still, unwilling to overthink it, he shrugs awkwardly, “no problem, man. See you tomorrow.”

 

Brainy nods, slipping out the door. 

 

Winn stays there, staring at the end of the hall for another long moment before going back inside.


	8. broadway here i come

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> it's game night and James is not as insightful as he thinks.  
> .

Game nights at Kara’s are always very fun in a very competitive sort of way. Winn loves every second of it. And it’s been around as a tradition for about as long as he’s known her. It’s the sort of thing that used to be just for fun and then stayed existing just for the normalcy. It’s kind of impossible to imagine life without those weird nights now.

 

This one, though. For this one, he’s as nervous as the first time he talked himself into knocking on her door.

 

“We can do this,” he says half to the mirror, half to his anxiety.  _ They can do this.  _ “It can’t be that hard.” His sentence rises at the end, almost bending into a question; too dubious to be a statement.

 

“It will be the first time they all see us together outside of work and its distractions,” Brainy answers him from the living room anyway, still idly flipping through channels. He’s been slowly becoming more comfortable in Winn’s apartment after their fake-date and dinner at Valentine’s Day; Winn is sure even his small one-bedroom is better than the dorms at the DEO. “Are you ready yet? I’d rather not be late.”

 

A deep breath. Not to say, of course, that they don’t get into each other’s nerves anymore. “That’s not as helpful as you think,” he calls back, then quieter,  _ “asshole.” _ To be fair, they should get all the insults out of the way before going to Kara’s, you know, really get it out of their systems.

 

“I apologize, it was not my intention to make it worse,” Brainy appears at the door, seizing him up with a carefully neutral face. Winn is surprised he didn’t hear him approaching, even more at the petty need not be found lacking that rises at the inspection. He tugs at his collar at the same time Brainy clears his throat, “to me, knowing all the parameters of a situation helps. What would help  _ you?” _

 

_ Not to be under a microscope tonight.  _ Instead of replying, he meets his eyes on the mirror with a  _ look  _ that hopefully carried all he  _ really  _ wants to say, and splashes water on his face, wishing to dispel some of his nerves with the cold. If he’s being honest, he’s not even that sure why he’s so apprehensive.

 

“If it helps,” Brainy continues, a little hesitant, passing him the towel hanging by the door, “they have no reason to be suspicious, they  _ want  _ to believe us.”

 

Clutching the towel on his hand, Winn gives him an almost-smile. “Now,  _ this  _ helps,” he dries off, hiding the full extent of his grin, “thanks. But we should get going or we’ll be late even by  _ my  _ standards.”

 

Maybe Brainy is right, things might be fine tonight. If anything, everyone will be already expecting bickering from all sides, it’s  _ game night.  _ Maybe, as a surprising amount of things in this lie, it will be easier than he expects it to be.

 

*

 

The kitchen table is littered with snacks and Winn is sure this is what heaven looks like. Why was he so nervous earlier again? Nothing could possibly go wrong with this much junk food available. 

 

Besides, now that everyone’s here, the air is full of laughter and inside jokes and the warm, steady promise of friendship– it’s really hard to be nervous.

 

This is his family, of course it’s going to be okay.

 

_ “So how was the date?” _ comes Lena’s voice, drifting faded from the living room.

 

_ Right. _ Even if they’re halfway through this stupid lie.

 

_ “Very nice,”  _ follows Brainy’s reply,  _ “even though, Winn was five minutes late.” _

 

Scoffing to himself, Winn makes his way around the counter, taking the bowl of chips with him, “hey, you should be nicer,” he says over the prattle, “I’m your boyfriend now.”

 

Brainy makes space for him on the floor, “I  _ am _ being nice, it’s why I said  _ five  _ minutes, instead of the fifteen.”

 

“Thanks, really,” Winn deadpans, leveling him with a deeply unimpressed glare, and sets the bowl on the table. 

 

Lena snickers, laughing fondly at his grudging expression as he holds one arm open, letting Brainy settle back against him. After over two months of pretending, casual touching like this is easy– Winn has always been an affectionate, tactile person, it wasn’t hard to accommodate Brainy into his personal bubble. It’s almost nice. 

 

“Okay, are we ready for this?” Kara calls their attention, tapping a spoon against her beer, “after some serious requests, I have finally dug out  _ Clue!”  _ She sets the box on the middle of the table, smiling proudly at their cheering.

 

“I have not played this before,” Brainy whispers, watching Kara bring out the board and all the pieces. “Is the title as misleading as the others?”

 

“No, actually,” Winn says, “it’s pretty much what it says on the tin. Someone murdered Mr. Boddy and we gotta figure out  _ who, where,  _ and with  _ what.”  _ He snags two pieces before Alex could claim them all and start assigning them like codenames, “here, you should be Professor Plum.”

 

Turning it over on his hand, Brainy raises an eyebrow, “and who will you be?”

 

“Apparently,” he snorts, “Ms. Peacock.”

 

“Alright,” Alex calls, shaking the dice on her closed fist, “where’s Miss Scarlet?”

 

With a tired, long-suffering sigh, James raises his hand. “Let’s get this over with, hand over the dice.”

 

“Here you go, Red.”

 

James sighs again.

 

*

 

_ “Alex!”  _ Kara cries, throwing the last of the chips at her sister. “You’re cheating!”

 

“How am I cheating? It’s  _ Clue,”  _ she laughs, ducking and holding up a pillow as a very ineffective shield, “and–  _ stop it _ – you’re wasting food!”

 

“Okay,” James stands up, watching Kara scrap the bowl for ammunition with a face that doesn’t seem to decide if it wants to be amused or afraid, “I think it’s time for refills.”

 

“Hold up,” Winn detangles himself, unfortunately flailing all the while, “I’ll help you.”

 

The brewing war in the living room is left behind as he wanders into the kitchen behind James, going straight for the cabinets and raiding them for Kara’s emergency stash of chips.

 

Bags are poured into another bowl in relative silence, as they eavesdrop into the bickering drifting in. It’s imported to keep up with it, really, by the time they get back, it might already have devolved into an all-out war and they might have to choose sides and– Kara squeals, followed by a burst of laughter, and both of them turn to see her clinging to the couch behind her, crumbs all around, and Alex holding the bowl above her, grinning darkly satisfied.

 

But it’s not any of it that catches his attention. 

 

No, while it  _ is  _ a funny scene to watch and it  _ does  _ startle a chuckle out of him, it dies on his throat once his gaze lands on Brainy and Winn can’t look away. Because Brainy is laughing openly, and Winn hasn’t noticed this before, but when Brainy smiles it lights up his whole face, makes him look younger, and it’s just– 

 

James sidles up beside him, elbowing him lightly, “I know that face,” he chuckles, way too entertained by the whole thing, “it’s your  _ smitten _ face.” 

 

His mind screeches to a stop, and Winn freezes for a second, before going into overdrive and whipping his head around fast enough to give himself whiplash in compensation. _“What?”_ His voice cracks embarrassingly. He clears his throat. _Is his mouth hanging open?_ It might, he’s not entirely sure what’s going on, things are spiraling _fast._ “ I mean, _what,_ pshh, why would you say that?”

 

“Uh, because I know you? And I’ve seen it way too many times now not to recognize it?”

 

That’s.  _ Wow.  _ When you think you know a guy–  _ seriously,  _ how long have they known each other and– how can James even. That’s.  _ Wow.  _ It’s supposed to fool everyone but,  _ this  _ is something else; for James to just come out and say that– where did he even.  _ Wow.  _

 

“You okay there?” James, who clearly does not know Winn as well as he thinks, asks. He even has the gall to sound concerned. “I know it’s still fairly new– I didn’t mean to freak you out, man.”

 

Winn shakes his head, burying his inner monologue for later when he’s not supposed to be agreeing to this  _ so very  _ wrong statement. “You didn’t  _ freak me out,”  _ he shrugs, kind of trailing off. How do you follow up on that? Goddamnit, it’s too soon for Winn of all people to get tangled up in the lies. If anyone should trip, it should be Brainy, not him. “You just– caught me by surprise, you know. Kinda forgot you were there for a sec.”

 

“I hear that, alright,” and  _ man,  _ it’s the chuckling that irks him. James is just  _ so  _ sure, it’s. It’s whatever. “You were smiling like you didn’t see  _ anyone  _ else,” he claps Winn in the shoulder, calling back as he ducks out of the kitchen, “you’ve got it  _ bad,  _ man.”

 

Well, would you look at that. Maybe Winn should have looked into the Broadway thing, after all. 

 

Who would’ve thought he’s such a good actor.

 

*

 

_ Clue  _ goes about as well as it was expected. It’s to no one’s surprise when Alex wins, although Lena narrows her eyes in a way that promises hellfire of a payback later and Kara pouts, already resigned to be caught in the middle of that.

 

With the night winding down, they exchange the board games for a movie, because in all honesty, they have all missed getting together like this. Winn had not been there for the worst of it, but he’s seen the last drags of awkwardness lingering after all that went down last year. 

 

To have everyone in the same room without any pressure, it’s kind of a miracle.

 

They’re mostly fine with not talking about it, though.

 

But the movie seems to be one of Alex’s, some action flick that demands just this tiny bit more of attention than he can give it right now. It’s a Friday night, and Winn’s tired; he’s been working all week, he’s so, so tired, he can feel gravity winning and his body tilting, head lolling to the side, eyelids insurmountably heavy. Maybe, if he closes his eyes for just a second, then– 

 

Just one teeny-tiny moment, then he’ll give the movie all of his attention.

 

The warm, soft wall he’s leaning against shifts, and Winn burrows in the warmth more comfortably. An arm wraps around his shoulder, and  _ oh, right,  _ it’s a person. Something nags at his mind, too faint to go through the sleepy haze setting in, and Winn lets it slide away, as he goes further and further into the dark.

 

With the background noise quieting down around him, Winn sleeps.

 

*

 

A hand shakes his shoulder.

 

Scowling, Winn half-heartedly tries to bat it away, holding his pillow closer.

 

Someone coos nearby.

 

_ Now,  _ his eyes fly open.

 

The first thing he sees is dark green, soft under his cheek.  _ A sweater,  _ his brain helpfully supplies with an unwanted delay. Then, there’s awareness of his surroundings–  _ shit, right,  _ he was at Kara’s, game night then a movie, and– “where’s everyone?” He mumbles, pushing himself off Brainy. 

 

“Lena left half an hour ago, James is probably still waiting for his taxi outside,” Kara counts off her fingers, grinning unashamedly, “and Alex is out cold in the guest bedroom.”

 

His legs are still unsteady, stiff from sleep, and Winn is forced to accept Brainy’s hand to pull him up. Maybe if he weren’t still dazed and a little disoriented, he wouldn’t be so blasé about all of this, but as it is– things are already so goddamn weird, why not just go along with it?

 

“You have slept through the entire movie,” Brainy tells him, monotone, dusting himself off, “overall, it was very inaccurate.”

 

_ “That’s  _ what you got from it?” Winn snorts, accepting his jacket from Kara. He gives her a smile, opening his arms in an invitation for a hug and she goes easily, laughing. “Told you we’d resurrect game night.”

 

“Says the guy who slept through half the night,” she turns him around, pushing him back towards Brainy, “here, I think this is yours.”

 

“Yes, I suppose so,” Brainy makes a terribly resigned face, trading a sympathetic look with Kara over his shoulder, both struggling to keep a straight face. She herds them out the door, bundled up in scarves to brave the cold weather, snickering at his dramatically offended face. “Thank you for inviting us,” Brainy says, stepping out in the hall, and Winn takes his hand.

 

“Yeah,” he echoes through a yawn, nodding at Brainy’s direction, “what he said.”

 

Kara waves goodbyes, shutting the door with a soft  _ click,  _ leaving them alone in the empty hallway, and Winn drops his hand.

 

_ See? _

 

Broadway-levels acting right there.


	9. a day in the life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Winn finally meets Nia. Brainy finally meets the dirt collection.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i just wanna say, I have never read any Legion comics, so my knowledge on Nura Nal is limited to pretty much her alias. All I know about the Legion at all is that Kara and Kon ( and Bart? maybe? ) spent some time there. That being said, I apologize in advance because this feels a lot like a filler chapter, and I swear it was supposed to start in a coffee shop. 
> 
> And also, the whole ID-ing someone, by the way, their walk really is a thing being developed but it's still in the very early stages. I may also have seen it once in either one of the CSIs or Criminal Minds. The first part of this chapter may be a product of that.

There’s something to be said about routines. It’s sort of calming, to ease back into a daily life knowing where all things fit.

 

Even if said routine might include chasing aliens on security cams or analyzing DNA that should not have that many helixes. Maybe  _ especially _ then. It certainly makes the uncanny feel ordinarily common.

 

So what if that guy shines in the sun? Twilight did that ten years ago, get over yourself, dude. It wasn’t even  _ that _ good of a movie, everyone was just visibly way too creepy stalkerish. Winn snorts, wondering for a fleeting second if Brainy watched the movies or if he even knows what Twilight is. 

 

You know what, he just might drop a reference later to see what the verdict it.

 

Two DEO agents carry the Edward wannabe away in cuffs, his tail dragging uselessly on the floor and shining bright like a diamond all the way to the cell block. Winn spots Kara coming in behind them, dripping salt water and smelling strongly of rotten fish. He wrinkles his nose at the stench, shuddering, and he’s so busy not throwing up that all his brain registers are dark brown hair and a familiar uniform before jumping to the conclusion– “Nura?” He asks quietly bewildered before pushing his chair as far as he can from them. “Oh my  _ god,  _ why do you smell like a dying whale threw up on you– Kara, I know I was the one to make that, but you need to  _ burn _ your suit, cape and all.”

 

“Oh, come on,” she whines, sniffing at her hair and promptly gagging, “someone had to flush that guy out, it’s not my fault he was rolling in that disgusting mud.”

 

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I told you we had the sonar thing for that,” and now that Winn is a safe distance away from Kara and her overwhelming stench, he can focus back on the things around him. Like, for example, the fact that of course, that’s not Nura, even if her uniform looks a lot like hers and even if she has the same warm, smiling eyes and the same shape of her nose. Then, it clicks on his head.  _ Right,  _ the new addition to their team Kara and Brainy are always talking about. 

 

_ Dreamer.  _

 

“No, you did  _ not,”  _ Kara is shooting back sullenly, her cape draped protectively over her arm.

 

“I did. And so did Brainy. We said,  _ Supergirl, wait, the sonar will bring him out,  _ and then you said  _ no, there’s no time  _ and dove in the ocean after his lair,” Dreamer says, barely holding back her amusement. She trades a conspiratory look with Winn, “we totally had time, the tide won’t rise in like,  _ hours _ .”

 

“That sounds like her,” Winn nods sagely.

 

“Unbelievable,” Kara glares half-heartedly. Her nose scrunches up and her hand flies to her mouth. “Be right back, guys,” she tells them, voice muffled, before jogging out of there.

 

“You have superspeed, did you know?” He calls after her, laughing as she flips him off.

 

“Do you think they’d buy it if we tell at Catco that she fell in a dumpster?”

 

Winn shrugs, thinking back at all those times he and James had cover for Kara over the years. Or, even worse, the times  _ J’onn  _ had to get involved. “Maybe, she told worse excuses before.”

 

“Oh, of course– you worked with her there! I mean,” she falters, second-guessing her conclusions, “you’re Winn, right?”

 

“Yup,” he says, cheerfully. It’s nice to be recognized, alright. “The one and only.”

 

“Sorry, I’m Dreamer. But you probably already knew that, of course.”

 

“Yeah, the uniform is kind of a giveaway. But it’s very nice to meet you– and cool suit, by the way.”

 

It reminds him a lot of Nura’s own uniform, enough to see how Dream Girl was inspired by her ancestor when coming up with it. And that’s kind of a trip to think about, if he’s being honest, because Winn met Nura first, got to know her quirks and the love she had for her family, saw how proud she was of carrying this legacy; they became good friends in all those months he spent with the Legion. It’s just so weird– Winn hugged Nura goodbye last year and now here he is meeting her ancestor not even five months later.

 

“Thanks, it was my mother’s. Oh,” Dreamer lowers her voice, glancing around quickly, “you can call me Nia. Nia Nal. It’s nice to finally meet you too, I heard  _ a lot  _ about you from literally everyone here.”

 

Of course. Nia  _ Nal.  _ Time travel is  _ so _ trippy. He can’t imagine how it must be for Brainy, who spent considerably more time with both of them. 

 

“I knew you would be here today,” Nia blurts out after a second of silence. She closes her eyes, huffing, as if annoyed with herself, then amends, “I saw it in a dream, I mean. You know, how that’s my thing? Seeing stuff–  _ and  _ you probably already knew that too.”

 

Winn grins, before sitting up on his chair on his best The Godfather impression. “I know everything,” he says in a stage whisper because he definitely can’t do voices to save his life.

 

Nia giggles, sounding more at ease.

 

“Except how to get your own coffee, it seems,” Brainy says, and  _ man,  _ Winn is  _ happy  _ to see him climbing the steps towards them, two mugs on his hands. He stops by Winn’s chair, giving him a grumpy look before handing over one of the mugs. To Nia, he says, “greetings, Nia Nal. It’s good to have you back sooner than expected.”

 

“It’s good to be back,” she grins, and Winn isn’t surprised she genuinely means it.

 

Taking a sip from his coffee, he sighs contentedly.  _ God _ , he needed the caffeine. “Thanks, and you were going that way anyway,” he notes, looking pointedly at the mug on Brainy’s hands.

 

The sigh from Brainy is long-suffering at best and he gives Nia a  _ see what I mean?  _ even as he rests his hands on Winn’s shoulder. 

 

“Hey, I needed this,” Winn defends himself, cradling his mug, “I’m pulling an all-nighter here.”

 

“Still looking for Alex’s shapeshifter?” Brainy frowns, leaning over his shoulder to study the security videos on the screen. And this close, Winn can smell his cologne and aftershave, and  _ oh,  _ it smells pretty good. He swallows thickly, clearing his throat. Maybe he’ll ask later what brand he uses. Brainy gives no indication if he feels overheated like Winn is feeling where his hands are digging lightly on Winn’s shoulder to keep the chair in place, calmly changing the camera angle every five seconds while the footage plays. “It’s a long shot, but have you tried running facial recognition?”

 

He clears his throat again. “Yeah, and I found him here,” he maximizes the videos as he speaks, “and followed him all the way down this street, through cameras 2, 5, and 7. See here? That’s our guy in the corner making his way downtown, walking fast until he’s out of shot, and we should see him here now, right? It’s the same street, not even a block away. But nothing,  _ nada.  _ Between cameras 6 and 9, he disappears.”

 

“Shapeshifted.”

 

“Yup. He could be literally anyone,” Winn levels them with a suspicious look, “even one of you.”

 

“Well, count me out, I was out of town until this morning,” Nia raises her hands, playing along, “and then chasing the fish guy in the docks with Kara.”

 

“So that’s why it smells like rotting fishes in here, the– ” Brainy scrunches up his face, and then makes the same sound J’onn had made when identifying the fish guy’s species. It’s definitely not meant to be said by anything with vocal cords, Winn is not even going to try to replicate that. Kara had tried, it sounded nowhere close. In fact, it sounded like a particularly hoarse kitten drowning. “They are surprisingly filthy for a kind that lives in the ocean.”

 

Winn and Nia trade another look, silently agreeing to keep calling him fish guy.

 

“Anyway,” Winn says through a yawn and takes another sip from his coffee before continuing. “Since face recognition has failed me because our serial department store thief is a shapeshifter, I thought, what is the one thing he can’t change?”

 

“Voice?” guesses Nia.

 

“Only if he had a stutter. Some species cannot change their irises, though,” ventures Brainy.

 

“No and no– but that is good to know,” he leans back on his chair to beam up at him, catching the way his lips twitch into an almost-smile. “What not even a shapeshifter can change is his gait–  _ the way he walks.  _ It’s been used for some time now along biometric identification, and  _ sure,  _ it’s still a bit wonky, especially since our guy keeps changing height and build,  _ but,”  _ Winn pulls up the security feed from the last department store robbed, “do you see that? He has a limp, in all the videos. It’s subtle, but it goes a  _ long  _ way to help my program.”

 

“Wow, okay, I see it now,” Nia comments absently, looking between them.

 

“It’s not perfect,” Winn scratches the back of his neck, feeling a little self-conscious. “It can only narrow it down to a few dozen possible hits.”

 

“Because of the aggravated spatial displacement,” Brainy explains as if that would clear everything up for anyone that hasn’t spent the night researching identifying methods.

 

“Yeah,  _ that _ . You know, the differences in camera angle, height, speed, all that stuff,” he translates, “which is why I connected it directly with our facial recognition program, told it to discard anyone under 16,  _ and  _ because this guy is only  _ copying _ people’s face, send an alert only when any remaining suspect has two hits in two different places at the same time.”

 

“You wrote all this in one night?”

 

Winn shudders, shaking his head, “ _ god  _ no. A university in Japan already had a pretty good interface, I only tweaked it a bit to run in our servers.”

 

The hands on his shoulder twitch and Winn looks up inquisitively. But Brainy is watching him again with that odd expression Winn has no idea what to make of, except that it sets off something warm in his chest. It might be pride. It  _ could  _ be pride, he sure is proud of his program. “This is really remarkable,” Brainy finally speaks, quiet as if meant just for Winn to hear. 

 

Winn looks away, mouth strangely dry. “Yeah, thanks,” and the words weren’t supposed to sound so sincere. He claps his hands, hoping to defuse the weird atmosphere that settled in. “So, any questions?”

 

Nia smiles softly at them before raising her hand, “I have one, actually. Why not under 16 years old?”

 

“Glad you asked– I looked up all the disguises we know of so far, and they were  _ all  _ male adults, between 20-36 years old, and let’s go with  _ fit for their age. _ And I mean, that doesn’t have to be necessarily weird, but there were  _ several  _ occasions where say, a kid or an old lady would blend in a lot easier.” 

 

“So you think he has a type?”

 

“I think he’s a kid,” he licks his lips, setting his now empty mug on the desk. “A stupid scared kid trying to look big and strong. All he stole from the stores were some clothes, food, toys, electronics. In fact, if he hadn’t shapeshifted in front of like ten different cameras, it would have never caught our attention.”

 

“He needs our help,” she frowns, “not a manhunt.”

 

His thoughts exactly, but to do that, they have to find him first, and fast, before the press gets wind of this and turns it into something it’s not. People going around paranoid is never a good thing, especially with the air still a little tense. And Winn is sure Alex thinks the same, or she wouldn’t have told him to keep digging, even after the meager leads they had went cold.

 

“What’s this about a manhunt?” 

 

Winn does not startle, because that would be too undignified a thing to do in front of his fake-boyfriend and a superhero he’s just got to know, so no, of course, he doesn’t startle when Alex materializes out of thin air, looking vaguely harassed and smelling strongly of car fresheners. 

 

He’s going out on a limb here and say she was with the strike team that captured the fish guy.

 

“We’re avoiding one,” Brainy supplies helpfully.

 

“Thank you,” Alex says, halfway into a question like she’s not sure she truly wants to know the context. “That’s generally the consensus, but why are we in danger of one?”

 

She looks at the three of them waiting not so patiently for an answer; it doesn’t have to be a good answer, he thinks, the bar is pretty low lately. 

 

“I have done something amazing,” Winn tells her, gesturing the computer with his program running.

 

Alex perks up, “you found a lead on the shapeshifter case?” 

 

A deeply betrayed pause. “Why do you have to kill my vibe like this?”

 

There’s a snort from above him, and Winn doesn’t have to look up to know Brainy is absolutely not as ready to defend his honor as he should be. In fact, he can pretty much imagine the stupid amused grin that he must be wearing. Nia, too, is snickering quietly beside Alex. 

 

“What vibes?”

 

Kara pipes up, grinning that little grin that really, is more of a smirk because she  _ knows  _ she’s being a little shit. At least the terrible smell is gone, mostly.

 

“You know what this department needs?” Winn throws his hands up, “ _ bells.  _ All of you.”

 

She laughs, shrugging innocently, and because she’s Kara Danvers right now and not Supergirl, she turns to Nia, “hey, James called, we have to hurry back to Catco. I can give you a ride if you want?”

 

“Sure, sure. Just give me a minute to change!” She rushes out, setting off towards the locker room and calling back a goodbye, “it was nice to meet you!”

 

Alex drums her fingers on the desk once, a quick staccato tapping that tells them her mind is nowhere near. Still, she smiles briefly at Winn. “Hey, good work on the program. Call me if you get any hits. Kara,” she whirls on her sister, “we have to talk about Lena’s gala next week.”

 

And then they are off to the balcony, talking in low voices.

 

Winn expects Brainy to leave after that, but instead, he lingers. On the screen, the grainy footage of security cameras plays on a loop. The chair creaks as Winn spins to face him, eyebrows raising when he finds him studying the computers thoughtfully.

 

“It’s– I’m impressed, that’s all,” the comment is said as off-handed and absent, as anything else. As if yes, that’s all there is, nothing strange to it. As if Winn should not find it so surprising, or pleasing. Brainy’s impressed, that’s all.

 

“Thanks,” he says, half shrugging on his chair. “We’re still on for dinner tonight?”

 

“Yes, we can head out after work,” Brainy nods, and leaves for his own desk. 

 

Outside in the balcony, Kara takes off with Nia and Alex waves at them until they’re out of sight.

 

That’s all.

 

*

 

The rain starts when they’re a bit over halfway to Winn’s apartment and maybe walking back wasn’t the smartest idea, even if traffic  _ is  _ a nightmare at this hour. They should have known the dark clouds wouldn’t hold out for the twenty minutes walk.

 

By the time they actually make it inside the building, Winn thinks he’s never going to be warm again. The water had been freezing, as it always is in the first three months of the year; they definitely haven’t hit the April showers yet.

 

It’s more on the lines of March freezing baths. 

 

Now, with both of them dripping puddles on his living room, Winn has no choice but shove a set of sweatpants and a hoodie that he thinks might fit Brainy into his hands. “The bathroom is down the hall, there are fresh towels in the cabinets,” he directs, before changing into dry clothes himself and going to the kitchen.

 

Mac and Cheese are generally very easy to prepare, especially the kind that comes in a box, and Winn has never been more grateful for it. With the rain battering on the roof and the lack of sleep he’s running on, he’s not sure if he would be feeling up for doing anything more complicated than that.

 

“Winn?”

 

Brainy is on the doorway, wearing Winn’s old UCLA hoodie and Winn’s old sweatpants that are a little frayed at the hems, and Winn needs a minute to adjust. 

 

Just. 

 

It’s weird, okay? 

 

Give him a break, he’s tired. “Yeah?”

 

“This,” he holds up a cilinder–  _ oh,  _ “I did not know you kept it.”

 

_ Right _ . The dirt collection. Winn narrows his eyes, “you went snooping,” he accuses jokingly, shrugging off Brainy’s vaguely guilty face. “It’s cool, relax. But yeah, I did. I mean, I threw away the bug first and scanned every inch before bringing it out of the DEO– by the way, jerk move, dude– but it  _ was  _ dirt from the future and it’s not like I knew back then I’d get the chance to see it for myself, so.”

 

The vaguely guilty expression turns vaguely constipated. “I apologize for that,” he fidgets uncomfortably, “at the time I did not realize I would be crossing boundaries. I was worried about the upcoming fight with Reign and wished to know the outcome. I hoped it would be positive, but… I really hoped it would be positive.”

 

“Well, Mon-El wouldn’t have stayed behind without it and he  _ was  _ kinda helpful,” Winn concedes, “and it was a long time ago anyway. Apology accepted, as long as you help set the table.”

 

“Of course. I will put this back where I found it, but– can I ask something first?”

 

“Go for it, man.”

 

“Why do you keep it inside a cabinet and not displayed like the others? When I ran a diagnostic on your personality, it seemed something you would be more likely to brag about.”

 

Well, he’s not wrong on that. Winn would absolutely love to have it where everyone can see, but he also would love not to have a lawsuit opened against him; the DEO’s non-disclosure agreement is  _ tight.  _ “Can’t really tell people that’s from the future, you know? I mean, the DEO is a secret branch, so. It has to stay hidden along the alien dirt.”

 

There’s a long minute of silence before comes the flat, disbelieving reply. “You have been to other planets.”

 

“Hey, don’t give me that look– I  _ so  _ did! No, I’m serious, you can ask Kara and Alex, they were there! We had a transmat portal and J’onn couldn’t go and there was this trafficking ring– it was a whole thing! No, you know what, that’s it. Go put the dirt back on the cabinet and help me set the table, ‘cause you’re about to hear the whole unabridged story.”

 

Brainy smiles drily, “I cannot wait.”

 

“Chop chop, come on. It all starts, really, with James going  _ just five more minutes  _ like vigilanting around is suddenly the same as saying  _ screw you  _ to your alarm clock–”

 

As Winn launches into a retelling of that mission from years ago, the first really, where he felt like an actual DEO agent and not just a glorified IT guy, Brainy takes the plates and silverware passed to him, snorting every time he tries to imitate someone’s voice. Not that he notices beyond a passing, background thought, but outside, the rain is finally letting on.

 

**Author's Note:**

> hey you made it! if you liked it, maybe leave a kudo or a comment? Those seriously make my day!
> 
> or, you can come talk to me on [my tumblr](http://rad-hoodd.tumblr.com/)
> 
> and hey? thanks.


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